Spacers, Officers and Pirates
by Pixel and Stephanie Forever
Summary: The Colonies are attacked - killing most of the human race... Join the crew of the freighter Monster as they find a ship, get it up and running before escaping. On their journeys , they'll meet up with some remnants of the Colonial Fleet, other merchant crews and one or two pirates - before making the Cylons pay for everything they did to humanity...
1. Prelude

**Prelude**

Of this would happen on the first day of shore leave – it was fated by the Gods…

The freighter _Monster_ had been heading towards the surface of Caprica when the Cylons had struck with their pinpoint attacks. If it was not for the Captain's standing FTL order, the _Monster_ would have been destroyed by a pair of Cylon Raiders that had bounced them. A veteran of the last days of the Cylon War, Thomas McCoy had worked a number of jobs as a pilot before buying his own ship and setting up his company running freight between the colonies. His company, Delphi Deliveries, had a total of seven ships, with the _Monster_ still in service twenty years after he had purchased her as he couldn't bear to part with her.

"Report!" he called out.

"We've jumped, but I've no idea where" replied his pilot John Smith. "I never had time to put anything in before you turned the key"

"Start DRADIS sweeps and take star chart readings" McCoy replied. "Engineering, what's your status? Engineering, this is the Bridge"

"Comm system appears to be either offline or there is nobody to answer" shrugged Smith.

"All hands, this is the Captain… Report in by section if you hear me"

" _Cargo Bay 1 reporting – no damage_ "

" _Cargo Bay 2 reporting – no damage but we've got injuries_ "

" _Medical Bay reporting – the Doc is dead_ "

" _Galley reporting – no damage or injuries_ "

" _Shuttle Bay reporting – no damage or injuries_ "

"Must be their comm unit… Any idea where we are?" McCoy asked.

"We've jumped somewhere near to the Leonis planetary system, but I can't get better than that. The entire navigational network has either been shut down, disabled or destroyed by the Cylons"

"I'm picking up scattered messages" said his communications crewman – a gruff woman who'd been in the service at the same time as McCoy. Sylvia Monroe had embarked on _Columbia_ as a communications specialist and had survived her destruction by being in her forward section repairing an antenna array when she was blown up.

"What do you hear?"

"All of the colonies have been hit… The fleet is trying to get in and fight back, but when they pull inside their engagement zones, they simply lose power – Vipers and Raptors too. Rumour going around its that new NAV program most of them had fitted…"

"Just lost DRADIS" Smith called out.

" _Bridge, this is the Shuttle Bay_ "

"Go ahead" McCoy flicked the right button on the overhead panel.

" _I'm seeing a load of debris around us, chunks of rocks and some powered down fleet vessels – think we're in the Leonis Fleet Reserve_ "

"Are you sure?" McCoy frowned.

" _Aye… I'm looking out of the bay window and seeing a_ Triton _class Battlestar in the middle of being broken up. I brought it here a few months ago_ "

"Helm, set course to get us inside the yard – if the Cylons go looking for survivors, they might be confused by dead ships and rocks floating around" McCoy said. "This is the Captain, begin damage control in all affected areas. I need a few people to crew a shuttle with me… Report to the Bridge in person"

"Sir, what are you doing?" asked Monroe.

"I'm thinking that if the Cylons have hit this hard, they mean to wipe us out, Sylv – we could get a hell of a lot of spare parts and fuel before running"

"What if its all a massive drill?" asked Smith.

"Not with the amount of messages I'm getting" Monroe shook her head. "Units are getting shut down and wiped out all over the place. I saw something about a staging of fleet units under Nagala, but only a handful of Battlestars reported in. Those that _did_ have only done so because they had systems shutdown or offline for repairs or were in dockyard hands"

"Keep an eye out on the wireless and see if there is any good news" McCoy ordered. "Look, I'm going to talk to the crew later, but I think we've already lost this war. We should get as much as we can aboard and then run and find a planet well past the red line"

"If we do that, we'll never be able to find our way back" Smith turned round to look at the other two on the Bridge of the _Monster_.

"I think that's the point" Monroe whispered as the implications hit her.

"If we're found, this ship isn't going to take more then a single missile to destroy" Smith shot back. "We should go to ground in caves or something"

"And how long would that give us before the Cylons bomb them or simply seal them off?"

"You're assuming, John, that we're staying on the _Monster_ " McCoy was looking out of the window at the various ships stored in the yard.

" _Engine Room reporting… Sorry for no comms, Captain, but we had to replace the entire unit_ "

"No problem" McCoy said as he replied into the handmike. "Are we okay with engines?"

" _Yes, but the Chief is injured_ "

"Anybody else hurt?"

" _No_ "

"Then have as many people as you can spare meet me in the shuttle in ten minutes"

"Tom, what are you thinking?" asked Monroe.

"Well… I've been looking at the Comms whilst you two have been arguing, and the Cylons seem to be going for live ships first and then dead ones"

"So?"

"So I'm thinking we upgrade to something bigger"

"Such as?" Smith raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Such as that" and the two followed their Captain's finger to look at a Battlestar seemingly intact and waiting for her fate.

"You want to steal a Battlestar with a crew of just two dozen?" Monroe spun round to face her Captain and old comrade.

"It would give us a hell of a lot more protection than a freighter's hull" McCoy shrugged. "Maybe its enough just to get battery systems working and sit there until its all over"

"Why not take a ship?" asked Smith as he piloted the _Monster_ through lines of colonial warships. "We could find the yard station and plunder it for food and supplies before coming back here and jumping out"

"It's a buyer's market" Monroe chuckled grimly. "If you're set on doing this, Captain, I'm with you to the end. I'd suggest that we take a ship only recently arrived – little will have been stripped from her… if anything"

"We did a run for the Fleet a few weeks ago – think the name was _Virtutem_ or something. It was a short notice trip when we were on our way back from Virgon – a delivery crew needed picking up as their Raptor had broken down. Could be our best bet…" Smith said as he swung the freighter round and headed towards a part of the yard filled with heavier ships.

"Never did understand why they mothballed a ship only a few years off the slips" McCoy said as he played with the handmike before replacing it on the hook to his right.

"My sister said something about her FTL drives needing overhaul and Adar forbid the expense"

" _For want of a nail…_ " McCoy quoted an old poem taught to him in school decades before. "Alright, then, take us to this ship. Sylvia, keep an ear open for any good news but don't send anything back without my express permission. John is busy flying through this shitstorm, so power up the gun and anti pirate missiles"

"That won't do much"

"Rather go down swinging". Monroe looked at the communications panel which still displayed every wireless message it received.

"Aye, me too…"

"Make for the _Virtutem_ – thrusters only. When we get near, we'll go aboard in the shuttle and see if we can get her moving. I want another team in the other shuttle ready to go to the next Battlestar and get parts" McCoy headed towards the hatch leading to the corridor beyond. "Be careful, people" and left the Bridge. Monroe and Smith looked at the Captain and then at each other.

"By your command" they both said coldly.

 **A/N:**

 **First chapters are always my weak point…!**

 **Yes, I know I should really be doing Harry Potter fics, but I wanted to get this down and published before my mind went crazy and lost the thread.**

 **Reviews in the normal manner, please**

 **Regards,**

 **Pixel**


	2. Battlestar Reborn

**Battlestar Reborn…**

It was seven hours since they had docked with the _Virtutem_ and things were going slower than they had expected. It seemed the Battlestar had been stripped before it was sent to the reserve yard and so they had had to bypass a number of things to get the batteries working.

"We've got minimal life support working and lights switched on in all the main corridors. We managed to divert some power to the Sickbay for the injured – Doc's medic has brought over his tools and supplies because he can do better there" an engineering crewman said to McCoy as he examined a data pad he had been handed.

"Have you been able to check out her sublights and FTL drives?" he asked.

"That was next on our list. If the sublights look alright, we might fire up one of the reactors and get partial mains back online – that would give us power for the DARDIS and landing bays"

"Get the landing bays sorted out first" McCoy said. "Have you heard anything from Smith or Monroe?"

"They took a tool kit and headed up to CIC to check out the computers there"

"Alright, keep me notified of the situation" McCoy handed the pad back and left the _Virtutem_ 's massive engineering areas for the port hanger deck where transfers of items were being made. With no power to the lifts to the flight deck, they were having to manually shift items over with the aid of the _Monster_ 's cargo lifter and a rope system. He went down to the port hanger bays and felt a little uncomfortable in the emptiness – he'd never been on a hanger bay that was so eerily quiet and ghost like.

"Captain, we've found some stuff over on the control station for the yard – we're going to need to take the _Monster_ over there and haul them back over" a crewman McCoy couldn't place said as she pushed back her blonde ponytail and sighed.

"Leave the shuttle here – we need that for DRADIS and wireless traffic"

"By your command" the woman said and turned away. McCoy shuddered at the saying and felt damned uneasy about something.

" _Captain, can we cease monitoring?_ " a voice came over his pocket radio.

"No – why do you ask?"

" _Because the Battlestar just sent a encoded message from the CIC_ "

"Are you sure?"

" _The signal packet shows it came from the comm station there_ "

"See what you can do to jam anything else like that. Captain to Monroe… Captain to Smith…" an icy feeling came over McCoy as he wondered if the pair had been ambushed. "You, you and you – come with me" he pointed at three crewmembers who dropped their tasks and grabbed tool kits and heavy spanners. "You" he pointed at the blonde he had just spoken to, "I want you to run down to engineering and tell the crews there to arm themselves with whatever they can grab and seal off the hatches until I say otherwise"

"Sir" the woman nodded and sprinted away.

" _Monster_ , seal off your hatches, disconnect from the _Virtutem_ and then power down"

" _Three bags full, Sir_ "

" _Sir!_ " a call came from the shuttle.

"Go ahead"

" _Captain, we're under attack from the Cylons…_ " the signal went dead.

" _It must have been that signal_ " put in the sole remaining crew member from the _Monster_.

"If they've taken out the shuttle, it won't be long before they find us… Engineering, can you power up the FTL drive?" McCoy asked quickly.

" _Aye, but only for a single jump… We'd only have a few hours of life support if we're lucky_ "

"Get working on it – use who and what you need. McCoy out. You, come with me" and he and the crewmen stormed off towards the Bridge.

#

"The message and location has been sent – a pair of Raiders took out the shuttle" said Smith.

"Do we shoot ourselves so we can download to the nearest ship or wait and try to take out the ship too?"

"I suggest killing ourselves"

"Agreed" and the pair raised their guns to each others hearts and fired a long burst – dead before they hit the ground.

#

"What in the name of hell was that…?" McCoy asked as he heard the gunfire. He raced into CIC and found Smith and Monroe lying dead and holding guns. Sat on the console where the Communications officer would have sat, a box was perched with a single beeping tone and steady red light. As he looked back and forth between the bodies and the box, his memory reached back and recalled an encounter with a Warrior at the end of the war after requesting a pick up from a planet's surface. The Viper pilot had been shaken up badly but spoke about Cylons trying to make human forms of themselves. "Quickly, disconnect that thing – but don't destroy it" he ordered.

" _Captain, we've got the FTL super boosted by taking power cells from the_ Monster _, but we've only got about thirty seconds before we lose the ability_ "

"Jump it now" and, a few seconds later, the Battlestar jumped to an unknown location.

#

"Okay, people, this is what we know is happening" McCoy had gathered his crew in the _Monster_ 's dining room. "The Cylons have wiped out most of the Colonial Fleet in the air and on the ground… Survivors are being found and then taken out by roving bands of Cylon fighters. We're not picking up anything from the fleet, but this is because they'll be using the military channels. We've taken some losses ourselves, so we're down to just twenty people now. If anybody has any plans at all, please tell me now"

"Well, Captain, I say that we find ourselves some fuel before anything else" a tall black man said. A veteran of the company, Rio Williams had served McCoy's company since its opening day and he could not ask for a better 1st Mate. "We've got enough fuel left on the _Monster_ to launch and get us a position report. If it's not too far, we could maybe refuel the _Monster_ and the _Virtutem_ at the same time" and a couple of the others nodded in agreement.

"If we find a motherload of things, we're going to have to play it carefully" McCoy said. "Rio, you will stay here with most of the crew and keep going with repairs and such. I will take the _Monster_ and two volunteers with me to get the fuel from any wrecks we come across as well as boxes of emergency rations. They might not taste much, people, but they will keep us alive for the time being"

" _Bridge to Captain_ "

"Captain" McCoy flicked the panel on the table.

" _Sir, I'm picking up a weak transmission from a Viper pilot from the_ Hades"

"It'll be old by now – like all the others we've heard"

" _Yes, Sir, but this one is giving the current time_ " and McCoy's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Can you get a bearing on that?" he asked. "And what does it say?" the man added.

" _I've got a rough bearing of 213 carom 12… Must be fairly close even if its weak. Anyway… this guy says he is stuck inside his Viper in the launch tubes of the_ Hades _with a couple of others. He adds he has about four hours of air left before the message repeats_ "

"We've got to save them" somebody said.

"Could be a trap, Skipper" Williams said.

"True – but I have to weigh that against the thought of getting protection" McCoy blew air through his mouth in frustration and rubbed his tired face. "They might be able to get us locations of fuel and other supplies such as ammunition"

"Do you want more to go with you…?" asked Williams.

"No – we'll stay with what we're doing anyway. Orders are to get sublights, DRADIS and the FTLs working, If you can, see what you can do about getting one of the barriers raised on one of the flight pod hanger bays – even if we can't fully re-pressurise the whole thing, we can at least do an airlock system" and McCoy looked around. "Does anybody here have knowledge of how to work a Viper?" and one cargo handler raised her hand.

"I worked with them when I did my service agreement" she said. "I wanted to go to university but couldn't afford it coming from Geminon – so I signed up to the Fleet and they put me through it in exchange for five years. Been out of it for ten years, but a Viper is a Viper any way you look at it"

"Okay, you come with me. I need an engineer"

"I'll do it" a woman with olive like skin raised her hand.

"Right – we'll lift off in ten minutes. Anyone not coming with me had better get off" McCoy smiled at the chuckling that came around the room and watched as most of his crew started walking off the ship.

"Captain, what happens if we really find Viper pilots alive?" asked the female engineer.

"Well, depending on their situation, we'll get them out their launch tubes and get them onboard here. If what we know is true, then others might be alive who we can rescue and use to help us get into the fight"

"Or run"

"Or run" McCoy agreed that was the more likely option. "Do you two have knowledge of working thruster suits?"

"Basic training" said the cargo handler.

"Once in company training" the engineer said.

"That'll do. The thought occurs to me that we might need to jet up the launch tubes to get Vipers out"

"Sir, there might be a problem… When I was serving on the _Orpheus_ , we had a power failure which meant the Vipers were stuck to the catapults. In the end, we had to use an electric charge to demagnetise them before they could be safely launched"

"Do we have the stuff aboard?" asked McCoy.

"I think so – certainly be the stuff on the _Hades_ "

"Alright… Get yourselves into suits now while I work out the course and speed calculations. By the way, remind me of your names"

"Natalie West"

"Sharon Valerii"

#

"Jump complete" West spoke up as she handled the piloting.

"I've got a contact at the edge of range" McCoy said. "Strike that – lots of contacts… Head towards the largest contact"

"Aye" and, over the next few minutes, nothing was said as the _Monster_ sailed towards what they could see was the site of a battle.

"Raise them on the wireless" McCoy said.

"Colonial Vipers, Colonial Vipers… This is the freighter _Monster_ responding to your distress calls" West tapped the helm controls and brought them bow on to what remained of _Hades_. The Battlestar had been torn into two halves with both pods remaining on the larger aft section. The forward section floated nearby but was full of huge holes and crumpled like a tin can.

" _Krpyter Krypter Krypter – this is Viper 34801. Need urgent help_ "

"This is Captain McCoy, Master of the _Monster_. How can we help?"

" _The Cylons used something to shut down the ship before destroying her. My squadron only survived by being in the tubes when we got shut down_ "

"We've heard the same story from a lot of messages" McCoy said. "Are you able to launch?"

" _The doors are down but the catapults are still energised_ " the Viper pilot replied.

"Not to worry – we've got something that will get you unstuck. Can I ask you identity?"

" _You first_ "

"Freighter _Monster_ of the Delphi Deliveries line. Registry code is 07101988"

" _Thank the Gods… Sorry about that, but we heard faint Comm traffic about the Cylons coming in close with fake messages. I'm Major Malcolm Powers, CAG of the_ Hades _. From what I know, its only us surviving here – we've never heard a peep from the port pod or survivors either on the_ Hades _or other ships in the fleet_ "

"More or less the same here, Captain. Look, the _Hades_ is gone, Son, but I can offer you a new home on a Battlestar we found intact at the reserve yard. Most of my crew is there trying to get her up and running again" McCoy smiled for the first time in what seemed like years. "I'd be pleased for you to join us" he added.

" _Follow you to hell and back_ "

"And stop at the gift shop for t-shirts" McCoy finished the old saying. "We're coming alongside to help you out. _Monster_ , out"

#

In the end, the protective doors were raised before the hanger doors were lowered to allow McCoy and his two crewmembers to get the Viper pilots out of their cockpits.

"Major Malcolm Powers, callsign Ghost" a tall and red haired man with a Caprican accent shook McCoy's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir"

"All mine, I assure you" Powers replied as he looked around the devastated hanger bay. The bodies of the dead lay where they had fallen and McCoy had had to break the news that they'd found no other survivors on the wreck of the _Hades_. "Captain McCoy, may I ask what your intentions are?"

"Salvage what we can and scuttle the remains. What are your intentions?"

"Well I would have said to get back into the fight, but if what you say is true then there is no point. Captain, if you don't mind a punch of military pilots tagging along, we'd like to sign on with you" and there was a mass of agreement from the other pilots.

"Glad to have you. I know this is technically grave robbing, but would you mind helping us to get everything possible? The shuttles are all still here as well as most of the Raptors – makes things a hell of a lot easier and faster" and Powers nodded.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to get some stuff from here first, get the Vipers over to the TEST and then come back here to help. Do you have missile capability?"

"No – just the capability to breathe"

"Well if you can torch open the tube doors, there should be about twelve nuclear missiles ready to be used" Powers said. "I don't have codes to launch them, but we should be able to rig a bypass"

"Sounds good to me… What else do you think we can have?"

"Whatever you can fit on the shuttles and your vessel – not like anybody is going to need it. Look, take what you want for now and we'll sort out the dead and get the shuttles up and running"

"You might want to upload this to your computers" McCoy handed Powers a silver and gold disk.

"That's the old CNP program"

"Yeah, we think the upgrade to the Fleet was the cause of all of it… My 1st Mate thinks we just upload the old version and Bob's your Uncle"

"Actually" Powers said dryly, "he was my husband"

#

" _Hades Squadron approaching portside hanger bay – manual approach_ "

" _Hades Squadron, copy that – be advised you will have to wait for your turn on the lifts – got a number of shuttles being lowered_ "

" _Copy that… The Squadron can land and I'll perform a CAP on the off chance anything happens_ " Powers said. McCoy idly heard the chatter in the CIC of the _Virtutem_ and finished his work on the Helm console"

"We've got the screens up and running" said Williams. "Skipper, we've got the _Hades_ 's FTL drives aboard and being installed now. Everything mechanical that can be moved is being done so now – just the food and potable water supplies"

"We're fuelled?"

"Did it whilst you were taking a rest"

"DRADIS contact… Raptor 123 just jumped in"

"Put it on speakers" McCoy hauled himself up off the floor and wiped the dirt off himself in vein.

"Virtutem _we've found a broken flight pod_ " called the pilot. " _Its from the_ Atlantia _and there are four pilots, five Vipers and a load of ammo – request crew be ready to help them get out_ "

"Roger that, Raptor… We're short of lifts at the moment – can you dock at the emergency hatch forward?"

" _Affirm_ "

"Go there – I'll send you two people" McCoy turned to Williams. "Have West and Valerii report to the forward emergency hatch ready to go back with the Raptor and get those pilots and planes back. Use the _Atlantia_ shuttle to bring back as much fuel as possible" and whatever McCoy would have added was cut off by the fact that the deck suddenly rumbled loudly before dying down to a gentle hum.

" _Engineering to Captain_ "

"Go ahead"

" _Sir, we've got four of the sublights working and we've got partial main power_ "

"We got FTL operational?"

" _Not quite… We're using sublights 5 and 6 to power it until full power is back up_ "

"Copy that – take a break and grab a cold one"

"Truly the Gods have smiled on us"

"Shut up" he told Williams. "Once the Viper pilots are aboard, make sure their shuttles and Raptors are ready to launch back to the _Hades_ wreck to get the last of the ammo stores and solids"

"What are we going to do about the guns? The missiles can be aimed and launched from the CIC, but the guns need gun crews to work them"

"I know" McCoy rubbed his grimy hands over his face – leaving streaks of dirt on both cheeks. "The main thing is that we have, somehow, managed to get _Virtutem_ powered up and refitted at sea in under two days. I want to reward the crew in some way, but I'm not really sure how"

 _ **Beep Beep**_

 _ **Beep Beep**_

 _ **Beep Beep**_

McCoy and Williams turned to look at the unattended communications console and, together, crossed to see what had been detected. For the most part, it screened Colonial Fleet coded messages, but a few things such as destruction of major cities were sent in the clear.

"Look at this!" Williams hit a switch and a print out came out the console wall. "The comm array picked up a Krypter from a ship calling itself Colonial Fleet Transport 232. She was transporting crew from _Valkyrie_ to Picon for shore leave when the attacks happened. I'm guessing they did a blind jump and then ended up losing most of their power. Their message attaches jump co-ordinates"

 _ **Bleep Boop Bleep Boop**_

"Okay… That's a new one" McCoy chuckled and looked up at the DRADIS screen which had been showing nothing but friendly targets – now indicating an unknown target in a thick red outline which quickly gave birth to little tiny red outlines. "Bugger me senseless and call me Susan" he dived for the communications station. "Powers, you there?"

" _Copy_ "

"Whatever the hell you call an emergency landing, get your birds on the deck right fracking now"

" _Why_?"

"DARDIS isn't saying what, but I think we just got new neighbours. McCoy to salvage team – abort your activities and get back on the _Monster_. Rio, give them all the coordinates for the broken flight pod. Captain to Engineering"

" _Go ahead_ "

"Spool up the FTL drives as quickly as possible – we've been bounced" and Vipers slammed into the deck – avoiding shuttles as they did the same thing. The FTL drives were quickly spun up and they jumped away.

#

"Captain" McCoy looked up to see Valerii coming towards him in the Battlestar's lounge which had been co-opted into a makeshift storage area.

"Hey, Sharon, what can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you, but you need to get that Major up here" the woman appeared nervous.

"I don't fancy a threesome" McCoy said as he picked up the nearest phone and called for Powers. After a few minutes, the pilot walked in and closed the door at Sharon's insistence.

"Captain… Sir…There is something that you both should know – I'm like Smith and Monroe"

"What?"

"Those two are a type of human form Cylon – there are twelve models and I am number Eight. I was assigned to the ship by the rest of the Cylon to destroy it should the primary method of entrapment fail. But…" she flinched as Powers drew his sidearm and aimed it at Sharon's forehead. "But I realised I could never go through with it. I might be a Cylon by birth, if you want to call it that, but I serve the Twelve Colonies"

"Why?" asked McCoy.

"What I want to know too" Powers growled.

"Because I have grown to like humanity…I was originally a sleeper agent, but I had a knock to the head which seems to have got rid of that. I've made friendships with humans and amongst this crew especially." Sharon sighed. "If you want to airlock me, lets go. If you want to throw me around the members of the crew before shooting me, I guess that's fine… Whatever you do, at least I know I will have died without harming you lot"

"Captain, this is technically a military matter, but I can see where she'd be thought of as a civilian… Your decision" Powers said – keeping his gaze dead on Sharon.

"Did you bring anything that could harm this ship?" McCoy stood from where he had been seated and moved towards Sharon.

"Only a communications panel and a datapad containing a virus to corrupt your FTL after it became operational. Both of them are in my left breast pocket" and McCoy reached forward and pulled them out.

"The law is quite clear on this, Sharon, and I really should execute you. However, you saved a great number of lives and risked your life in order to surrender. I must ask you formally: are you wanting to defect?"

"Aye, Sir" Valerii offered.

"Major?"

"I owe her my life… and that of my squadron's" Powers jerked his gun up and away – resetting the safety catch and holstering it. "I say we get that Marine we found to keep her confined to her cabin until we decide what to do with her. But first… Are you able to tell us if any of the other people on this ship are Cylons?" and Sharon nodded.

"I can and will. Captain, your 1st Mate is a Cylon known as a Four. Normally, that kind are assigned to infiltrate as Doctors, but some examples of models have other jobs to do" Sharon said. McCoy looked at Powers who frowned in thought before nodding. The Captain reached over and picked up the nearest handset and punched in a button.

" _CIC – West here_ "

"West, this is the Captain. Is Rio there?"

" _No, Sir… He said he was going down to the forward ammunition magazines to check up on the sensors there. There was supposed to be a fault there, but I never saw it_ "

"Call that Marine to the Officer's Lounge and arrange for some of Major Powers's pilots to meet us at the forward magazine" McCoy ordered and replaced the handset. Less than a minute later, the Marine arrived and both McCoy and Powers ordered him to keep the defector where she was, but not to harm her in any way. The pair then raced down to the forward magazine area and explained the situation with Williams to the pilots. Drawing weapons, they left one pilot guarding the entrance whilst the rest and McCoy entered and searched for the Cylon spy. It took a while, but they found the Four working with tools in the missile storage section.

"Put it down, Four" Powers ordered sharply.

"So… You know my number" Williams, Four they all tried to think of him as now, put down the screwdriver he was using and turned towards them. "What are you going to do? Shoot me? If you do, I simply become reborn in a new body and give your location to other ships in our fleet"

"Why? Why do this to us?" asked one of the pilots.

"Because Humanity are a flawed creation and it is God's will that we eliminate you to better the universe" Four replied.

"We'll discuss this later – drop to your knees, put your hands on your head and cross your ankles" Powers ordered.

"Ah, my dear Major… If you shoot me now or airlock me later – I will still give away your position and intentions"

"Hell with this" McCoy said. "Powers, left"

"I have right" and, together, they fired a shot into the knee caps of the Four which dropped to the deck with a lot of screaming. One of the pilots rushed forwards and knocked it out with an injection. "Get a Raptor ready and load this thing into it – when you launch, jump as far as you possibly can before executing the prisoner. Make sure he is awake first" Powers ordered. They nodded before dragging the prisoner away to the flight bays. "Captain, I suggest we get the hell out of here"

"Lets give it as much time as we can – I don't want to lose what we can not replace. The rescue of the pilots, Vipers and other things from the pod from _Atlantia_ will be over in a few minutes" McCoy said. "The next thing we have to decide is what we do after we've recovered the shuttles"

"I've been mulling that over" Powers admitted. "The Cylons nuked everything that was a civilian or military target, but even they will have missed a few things. I suggest hiding out in orbit around the sun – the heat it produces will hide us from everything but visuals… Once there, we then launch some recon Raptors to see what the disposition of the enemy forces is before landing on the surface"

"Saving anybody would be a miracle"

"Yes, but I thought of something nobody else has – we have food and rations for now but what about later? I don't want this to sound silly or stupid, but there is the option of trying to save animals and stuff" Powers looked at McCoy and shrugged. "I'm thinking that the Cylons, if there are human formed in most cases, will need food and drink like us – why destroy ships that can help provide that?"

"You think they'd leave cattle ships?" McCoy rubbed his chin with one hand in thought. "Getting the ships and animals would be easy – its finding people that know what to do about looking after them and so on"

"Might find farmers up in the mountain areas… My pilots can do that job" Powers followed McCoy along corridors and back up to where Sharon was waiting. "We're used to searching for missing people after all". The Marine on the door saluted Powers and opened the door to allow them passage.

"Captain, Major" Sharon nodded to them as the door closed.

"We managed to get to the Four and disable him. We're going to execute him far from the ship" Powers said.

"Now we come back to you" McCoy added.

"Are you going to execute me now?" the Cylon asked.

"No, because you have given us no cause to do so" McCoy replied softly. "However, the Major and I think that it is best that you are confined to quarters for the time being"

"We're too busy to question you right now" the Colonial officer continued as he poured himself a drink. "You can have comforts, because we'll treat you as a prisoner of war, but no electronics of any sort capable of transmission"

"Would that include my music player?" Sharon respectfully asked.

"I'll get one of the crew to look it over. Marine!" and the Marine came in and was given orders to take Sharon back to her cabin and keep her there. Powers waited a few moments before continuing. "Do you think she wants to help us?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to take that chance right now. Alright, lets get some pilots sorted with Raptors and have them briefed. I'll get back up to CIC and oversee the last of the repairs and salvage" and Powers nodded, drained his glass and left for the port flight pod which had been taken over by his pilots. McCoy listened to his footsteps fading away and wondered just what the hell he was going to do next. He made his mind up a few minutes later when he picked up the handset on the wall and called the CIC. "Have somebody get up there and begin plotting a jump point near to the sun – then use that destination point to calculate a long range jump away from the Colonies. Inform Engineering that they will have just eleven hours to do whatever they want to the FTL drives before we leave this place for good" and replaced the phone before a reply could be made. He quickly picked it back up again and called the portside hanger bay. "Chief, I need you to service the _Monster_ as quickly as possible" McCoy spoke to one of the Fleet members rescued by the _Virtutem_ and whom had been made Deck Chief by Powers.

" _Aye, Sir… Just fuel_?"

"No – rig the cargo bays and shuttle bay for maximum capacity of people. I'm going to be flying this myself. McCoy out" and McCoy poured himself a glass of water, drank it before setting the glass down and going to the hanger bay to get ready for his task – one that nobody else knew about…

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, seeing as how you asked nicely… Here is chapter 2 which you will have to be satisfied with for now until I close out a few of my other stories to reduce my workload.**

 **Reviews in the normal manner, please**

 **Regards,**

 **Pixel**


	3. Pirates, Battles and A Twist…

**Pirates, Battles and A Twist…**

A brief flash of light in the darkness of space heralded the arrival of the _Monster_ next to a large group of asteroids a few days travel from Canceron. McCoy verified his position by both the still operational Colonial Navigation Beacon System and the old fashioned method of star maps. Once he was satisfied, he set a course towards the largest of the asteroids – codenamed Citrus. In the early days of his company, he had been attacked by Tom Zarek and his so called freedom fighters which forced him to make a blind jump. Within moments, the _Monster_ had been lit up with all kinds of weapons locks and it was only by sheer luck somebody realised the newly arrived ship was a freighter. He'd been captured by the pirates and questioned until they were satisfied it was pure chance that had brought McCoy to them. It was to there great surprise that, in some ways, McCoy actually sympathised with their aims and wants, but he would never attack and destroy freighters and passenger ships outright. In exchange for being set free and taking some prisoners and family members of pirates home, McCoy had been told the exact location of the pirate base and told if he ever needed help, they would assist him in nearly anything.

"Badger Station, this is _Monster_ …" McCoy opened a channel. "Badger Station, this is Thomas McCoy. Code Alpha Alpha Tango Uniform X-Ray Kilo" and he waited for a reply as he sailed onwards.

"Monster _, transmit second code_ "

"Bravo Romeo One Niner Seven Three"

"Monster _, you are clear to dock at bay two_ "

"Copy that, Badger Station. Be advised I need your leader waiting at the airlock for me. McCoy out"

#

"Thomas McCoy…!" a squarish man boomed as the airlock doors parted. David Swanson was the leader of the pirate faction that had taken McCoy and then released him – the two keeping occasional contact through dead letter drops. "I haven't seen you in three years – whats the matter?" he asked as he saw the look on McCoy's face.

"You don't know? The Cylons hit the Colonies with hundreds of Baseships and thousands of Raiders – they nuked the capitals, took down the fleet and killed countless people. I managed to survive along with my crew, found a Battlestar lying dead, brought it back to life and now we need people to help crew it. I've got a couple of Fleet people, Dave, but they seem to just want to fight back"

"I swore never to go back to the Colonies"

The Colonies have gone" McCoy said. "All we have are one and a bit squadrons worth of Vipers, a few Raptors and one Battlestar that couldn't even fire more than a single salvo off"

"Why come back for us?" asked Swanson.

"Because, David, we could be all that is left of humanity. Plus, if we could get your ships to come with us, we'd at least stand a better chance of survival"

"Wouldn't the Cylons miss us?"

"As soon as they go through records, they will find you and kill every single person here" McCoy replied, looking around at the large groups of people watching the pair. "Look, the Fleet lot are being led by a Major and he seems fairly relaxed about the rules. We load everybody here into your ships, take everything we can, and I will speak to the Major on your behalf. I know all about your vow to never follow another, but quite frankly that can all go to felgarcarb… The Battlestar and the transport are mine, but you can sail with us in an alliance or sign on fully with us"

"You are certain this is not a massive joke or exercise for the Fleet?" Swanson asked.

"Dave, I wouldn't be here if it was"

"Aye… If it were any other person, I would not believe it – we'll come with you" Swanson turned to the room at large. "Everybody, we're evacuating the station! The Cylons have come and wiped out nearly everybody in the Colonies and now they are looking for the rest. I want all passenger transports loaded up with the women and children and the cargo ships loaded with all our food, fuel and weapons. Put the youngest and sickest aboard Captain McCoy's ship. And get the _Excalibur_ and _Zulfiqar_ ready to move"

"What's them?" McCoy asked.

"Two _Guardian_ class destroyers" Swanson replied as the pair left the airlock area and headed to the station's control room. "We heard they were being sold for scrap, so we hijacked them to use on raids. They can only handle two shuttles, a Raptor and a trio of Vipers but they pack one hell of a punch in terms of guns and missiles"

"Powers is going to just love you…" McCoy shook his head in disbelief as the pair walked into the control room.

"Sir, the first of the ships will be leaving in ten minutes. Weapons and ammo stores are being removed and transported to transports. A tanker is alongside and draining all the tyllium to its onboard tanks. Evacuation proceeding as expected"

"Dave, I'd best go with the first group to explain whats going on and to smooth over any ruffled feathers. Adar may have given a pardon to criminals in order to bolster the civilian forces, but the Fleet guys are going to be pissed and may shoot and ask questions later"

"I will come with you, Tom…"

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"Wise? Perhaps not, but it's the right thing to do"

# # # # #

"Contact! I have a DRADIS contact CBDR. Seven ships"

"Can you identify them?" asked Powers. He had been left in charge of the Battlestar whilst McCoy was away.

"Not on reduced settings" replied one of his pilots.

"Give me wireless contact" Powers ordered. "And prepare to launch the Alert Vipers"

"Aye – you're on"

"Attention unknown vessels! This is the Battlestar _Virtutem_ – identify yourselves or we will fire upon you" Powers spoke.

" _This is McCoy… I've brought back a number of friends, Major – but we're going to need to talk_ "

"Firm DRADIS contacts – apart from the _Monster_ , I'm reading the transports _Whistler, Deltic, Hoover_ and _Spoon_. There are also the cargo ships _Shed_ and _Skip_ " the pilot said to Powers.

"Those are Belters…!" Powers growled. "McCoy, you better have a good reason for bringing some of them here"

" _Major, leaving their criminal pasts behind, they might be all that's left of humanity – you really want to leave them behind_?"

"I'd rather blast them out of the stars, but I suppose you are right. Is there any order you need to dock in?"

" _I'm first… The rest can bring people over in shuttles. Malcolm… You should know I have Swanson onboard_ "

"Oh, I'll be glad to meet him – that bastard killed almost my entire squadron when I was on the _Uned_ "

" _I've given him my word he isn't going to be executed. He is here to discuss terms of joining us with his people and his ships_ "

#

"A PAIR OF DESTROYERS?" Powers thundered in the Virtutem's wardroom – the only room on the Battlestar that wasn't given over to storage of materials. "Captain McCoy, this is stupid… We can't let them keep them"

"Care to try and take them?" Swanson smirked.

"Look, the pair of you, calm down this minute. Major, Swanson has agreed to have his forces become part of our little fleet and to defend the civilian ships" McCoy rubbed his temples – Swanson and Powers had argued almost from the minute they had met face to face. "For the most part, David and his people will stay on their ships and have more or less free reign to do what they want. The conditions are that they follow my lead and that they obey my orders or yours during battle"

"The rest of the supplies being loaded at Badger Station are enough food, drink and fuel to last months – more than enough for the food production vessel to get up and running" Swanson said. "In addition to that, we have enough ammo to rearm this ship four times over and that includes your Viper weaponry"

"Stolen from Fleet supplies no doubt"

"Actually, we never stole weapons directly from the Colonial Fleet. As much as I hated the Colonies for not listening to our needs and giving us equal money payments like the other colonies, I would never leave them undefended. I never thought the Cylons would come back, but perhaps some unknown threat that would cause great pain… In my last raid before the attacks, I captured four pilots from the _Zeus_ – they are being looked over by your medic as we speak. Two of my men nearly killed the whole lot of them, and one even raped the lone female pilot – I stormed over, pulled his weapon from his holster and blew his brains out without issue, Major" Swanson hung his head sadly. "Perhaps I would never have quit the Fleet if things had been different"

"I heard rumours you were in… About the Vipers, what ammunition do you have?" Powers asked.

"Its all in my report, but cannon and missiles – plus enough bombs for one slung under the belly per plane in a squadron" and silence lasted for several seconds in the Wardroom.

"I will never be able to forgive you for most of what you did, but that was in a past life for all of us – I may not think of you as a friend, but we are comrades in a time of war. If Captain McCoy has given his word, then that word holds good for me"

"Well now that we have that sorted, we need to decide what to do next. Our recon ships will be back in a little under three hours. Once they return, we will make a jump to the furthest possible and keep on running" McCoy knew how much that cost Powers to say that.

"I'm worried about the civilians in the fleet" Swanson said. "If we put the lot of them in a sort of box, we can cover them with the destroyers at left and right flanks with the _Virtutem_ in the middle so the Vipers have equal response time when heading to combat"

"That would work, but we should stagger them – that way we have a staggered defence that provides for a better cover screen against Raiders" Powers toyed with a pen in between his fingers.

"That might work – depending on the direction of the Cylon attack, we can provide a wall of flak in ripple fire mode"

"It all depends on if your people will follow orders"

"They will, Major, or they will answer to me. If you excuse me, I must get back to the station and supervise the last of the ships leaving" and Swanson was almost at the door when Powers spoke up.

"Do you believe in the Gods?" he asked.

"I'm a Mono"

"Then swear on your faith you will answer me one question"

"I do swear to tell all in this room the truth so far as I know it to be true. This I swear in the name of the one who we never know His true name" Swanson recited an oath after briefly raising his right hand.

"Why did you leave the Fleet?"

"I was part of a boarding team sent over to a Saggie mining ship on the edge of the Red Line. The ship was armed with demolition missiles to break up asteroids and comets, but the higher ups feared that the Cylons might see it as a provocation and attack us" Swanson turned back to look at the Major. "We stopped the ship and went over to question the crew. That plan lasted for about three minutes before the officer in charge pulled out her weapon and shot the Captain's wife in the head. I expected the Marines to do something, but they presented arms and executed every woman and child below the age of fifteen on the spot. When we got back to the _Ghost_ , I reported directly to the Commander and filed a report. Three days later, hours after we docked at Maplan Station, I received orders to transfer from the ship. I was forced to sign the OSA and keep quiet about it. A few months after that… I found the officer was now a Lieutenant frocked as a Captain. Turned out the higher ups had tracked down the Marines, had them all meet with untimely accidents before killing the miners, the rest of their families and erasing every last mention of them. When I heard rumours, I knew they'd come for me and I resigned, stole a Raptor and ran"

"Who was it?" asked Powers. "Who led such an act?"

"If she survived the Cylon attack… At the time, her rank was Lieutenant – but now you would call her Admiral… Admiral Helena Cain"

#

"Did you know?" asked McCoy.

"About Cain"

"Oh, I'd heard a fair bit about her on the grapevine – Admiral before aged forty? A lot of the Fleet were pissed at that when the news broke – stories abounded of bribes being paid… Anyway, she got assigned to command the _Pegasus_ and her group six months before the attacks" Powers shrugged and sipped his drink.

"I remember thinking she must have something on her superiors" McCoy said as he started to read a report made by his engineers.

"I met her just the once – just after an incident with the SRA. I was the fifteenth in sequence for a landing on the _Hades_ when two of my engines suddenly blew out. I declared an emergency and angled in for a landing using just my side thrusters as everything else was keeping my nose level. Anyway, I'm about a thousand yards away when I'm ordered to abort and let this Raptor in front of me. I refuse on account I have one working engine and that's failing fast – then the Raptor locks weapons at me"

"What did you do?"

"I did what I was trained to do – I flipped around, locked on and popped off a pair. She tried to have me tried in front of a panel and dismissed the service, but the board accepted that I was under a stressful situation and that I reacted automatically in turning and firing – bitch was fuming after that"

"So it's safe to say that there is no love lost there then"

"If she was killed, then at least the Cylons did one thing right" Powers finished and then picked up a report of his own. "If we get the pilots and Vipers from our new friends, we can put them with the ones we rescued and make a full half squadron. That one could stay around the ship whilst my squadron goes off into battle"

"I'm sure that David can provide pilots to man his own Vipers" McCoy said. "I was thinking on the way there and back that there's nothing for us. I'm going to terminate the search and rescue and we'll send the civilian ships away whilst we make a fast sweep through the colonies and grab whatever we see and then meet up for our great escape"

"Knew it was coming – just didn't expect it" Powers said. "I'll let my people know. When we leave, I'd like to stop by one location"

"Where?"

"I'm not supposed to mention it to civilians, but I doubt anybody will higher up exists… Ragnar station has nuclear weapons on board – I was hoping that we could grab them before we left"

"Say no more" McCoy said. "Once we're all formed and ready to go, we're going to jump towards the Prolmar Sector and keep on sailing – making charts as we do in case we do end up going back. The ship is yours – I'm going to find a bottle, drink it and then go to sleep"

"I'd like to start gun drills as quickly as possible. We've only got a small crew aboard and only two people have ever fired a turret before" Powers turned over a page and frowned when he didn't get a reply. When he looked up at McCoy, the freighter Captain had his head against the bulkhead and was snoring. The Major was just heading out of the room when sirens and klaxons started wailing as one of his pilots started talking over the PA.

" _ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! SET CONDITION ONE THROUGHOUT THE SHIP… CYLON BASESHIP ON A CBDR COURSE – FOUR MINUTES UNTIL THEIR WEAPONS COME TO BEAR. ALL PILOTS, MAN YOUR PLANES_ "

"Oh Gods…" Powers paled as he raced down several decks and got jumped the ladder and hurried over to his Viper. "Powers to CIC"

" _Go_ " McCoy sounded fully awake and alert.

"What are our orders?" asked the CAG as he felt the shudder of the launch tube doors shutting.

" _Engage the enemy_ "

"That will do me – launching"

#

"The transports have jumped to position Alpha One. Vipers are away – reserve flight is in position. We've got a few missiles, but no anti-aircraft, CIWS or anti- shipping capacity because nobody is experienced enough to know what to do" West said to McCoy as he finished talking to Powers.

"I know somebody who can" McCoy picked up the PA, dialled a particular number and then passed on an order before he replaced the handset. "Our specialist is on her way"

"Vipers have encountered Baseship and can see it launching Raiders"

"Have them engage. Are all stations manned and ready?"

"Yes"

"Get to DC and shut the bulkhead doors and all hatches. We're running on a skeleton crew as it is and don't have enough people to form a fire and emergency party - let alone a damage control"

"Captain, I'm here" and McCoy turned to see a hurriedly dressed Sharon standing by the starboard hatch to CIC.

"You said you had training on guns once"

"That's right – a lot of us did in case…"

"Then man the weapons panel and defend the ship" McCoy smiled briefly before turning to look at the DRADIS display. He could see the Vipers and Raiders dancing their tango of death – sometimes an indicator would go out as a craft was destroyed. "Engineering, how long until FTL is up and running?"

"Engine Room reports another ten minutes" West replied.

"Helm, all ahead flank – right standard rudder. Sharon, can you load and fire the forward batteries from here?"

"I think so" the young Cylon woman said.

"Load a couple of rounds and set to remote detonation. I want to fire them at the Raiders and see if the explosion and shrapnel takes some down" McCoy told her as he hesitated in making a decision. "Spin up a single nuclear missile… And take your time over doing it"

"I see what you are doing" Sharon said. "You aim to have the Raiders believe we're fully armed and going to attack"

"More or less" McCoy admitted. "Mainly, I'm playing for time and hoping our pirate friends come soon and help out"

"You might get your wish, Captain… Two contacts just jumped in but aren't sending transponder codes" West said.

"Contact them and find out who they are. If it's the pirates, have them engage the Baseship" McCoy looked over at Sharon. "You ready with a firing solution?"

"Yeah – the nuke is targeted, forward batteries are ready and I've even managed to get a couple of anti shipping missiles into their tubes. Sadly, that's all I can do" she replied. As she tapped controls at the console, she moved around in the seat in a somewhat irritated manner.

"You alright?"

"I dressed in a hurry when the alarms went off – I forgot to put my knickers on" and McCoy chuckled. He could well imagine that the shorts the woman was wearing were getting into annoying places.

"You could take your shorts off and be done with it"

"I'd not object" West called over the CIC.

"Not my type" Sharon said as she settled down and launched a pair of anti-shipping missiles. They impacted the Baseship and caused it to back off a bit and launch another wing of Raiders.

"DRADIS contact! Unknown contacts just jumped into the area"

"That makes how many?" McCoy asked as he turned back to the plotting table.

"One Cylon Baseship and four unknown contacts"

"Getting a comm message in text – it's the pirates. They've brought one of the destroyers and three civilian ships" one of the people from the Fleet transport called out.

"Pass the jump point to the civilian ships and ask the destroyer to engage the Cylons"

"Aye"

"Can you do something about the DRADIS?"

"We've not got enough power to it, Sir. Once everything was powered up for a fight, levels dropped a lot. We did a lot of good work, but not enough" West said.

"Fair enough… Right, launch the _Atlantia_ flight and have them assume a defensive point alongside us – we're going to punch through the Raiders and hit that big bastard directly"

"I don't have a lot of firepower to spare, Captain" Sharon said. McCoy could detect a measure of uneasiness in her voice. He wondered if there were others like her onboard the Cylon ship.

"Okay… Target to try and disable the FTL drives. Comms, have the Vipers engage the Baseship's weapons and FTL drives only. Tell the destroyers to do the same"

"Why?"

"Ever hear of a Trojan Horse? The Cylons used our ships to destroy the Fleet – we'll do the same. We take the ship over, load a nuke or two aboard and then set it to jump back to where it came from and detonate"

"But we might kill a lot of people" Sharon said quietly.

"I know, Sharon, that there might be others like you on the Baseship – but I have to think about us first. Maybe the Major can think of what to do with any prisoners"

"There won't be"

"Why?"

"When a Baseship is too badly damaged, it transmits all its data to the homeworld and then self-destructs"

"Oh. Cancel the last – take it out"

"Aye, Captain… Missiles away – main battery firing" and, for the first time in many years, the Battlestar opened up with her main armaments. Shells darted forwards and slammed into the Baseship – causing a part of it to vaporise. Those in the CIC were astonished to see the rounds hit, and it surprised the Cylons too as the pirates' destroyers got into position and fired a broadside which ripped the heart out of the larger vessel – immolating itself in a seemingly liquid wall of fire and destruction.

"Baseship destroyed – remaining Raiders are bugging out"

"Order Vipers to go after them and terminate"

"Aye"

"Helm, all stop on the engines. Have all Vipers return that need to do so. Contact the pirates and find out what their situation is and how much of the station is left to evacuate. Sharon you are with me – West, you've the deck"

#

Damaged Vipers returned to the _Virtutem_ and they were quickly brought down into the hangers for examination. McCoy and Sharon looked at each of them and wondered how they'd made it through the fight.

"I never thought war would be this brutal"

"It gets worse" McCoy said sadly. "You should have seen the fighting over Caprica towards the end of the 1st war"

"What happened?"

"We sent twelve Battlestars to attack a Cylon fleet – only _Galactica_ made it home"

"We… Cylons did that?" Sharon asked. McCoy raised an eyebrow at the correction she made.

"Yeah, it was terrible… A week later, the war was over – just like that"

"I'm sorry" Sharon said.

"For what?"

"For lying to you about who I was – if I had come forward, perhaps something could have been done to save the Colonies"

"Maybe, but who knows…? We're going to have to go public on this, me and the Major have agreed, but we're going to do our very best to protect you. If you explain that you came forward as soon as you knew who you were and that you helped to defend the little fleet we have here…" McCoy shrugged.

" _CIC to the ship… Pass the word for the Captain_ "

"It never rains but it pours… McCoy" he snapped into a phone.

" _Its West, Sir… Captain, I'm reading a faint transmission coming from the debris of the Baseship along with an out of date code_ "

"How old?"

" _About forty years by my guess if you go by the encoding in it_ "

"Whats the transmission saying?"

" _Its voice – shall I patch it in_?"

"Go ahead" McCoy gestured to Sharon and held the handset so they could both listen.

" _I need help… I'm in a Cylon ship that's disabled… I'm running out of air_ "

"This is Captain McCoy of… a Colonial ship. Are you a Cylon?"

" _No… I want to find my sister – its been forty years since I saw her_ "

"I can't take your word for it, you understand"

" _Can you find my sister? She'll tell you who I am_ "

"The Colonies have been destroyed"

" _I know, but my sister would have survived – she always was tough_ "

"She might be amongst the pirates, Captain" Sharon whispered and McCoy conceded the point.

"We have some civilians with us – give me a name and I'll see if she's onboard"

" _She's called Helena… Please help – my air is running out. I think the hull is cracked_ "

"Alright – sit tight and I'll have a shuttle come and tow you in. What is your name?"

" _Lucy… My name is Lucy Cain_ "

 **A/N:**

 **Yeah, I know… But I had this in my mind and decided to get it done along with a load of other chapters for other fics so I can do a one fic a day for a week release!**

 **Hope you all like the plot twist at the end**

 **Reviews in the normal manner, please**

 **Regards,**

 **Pixel**


	4. A Last Trip Home – Plans For the Future

**A Last Trip Home – Plans For the Future**

"I can not be certain" said the medic, "But it does appears as if she is fully human"

"Gods… To think she was being held by the Cylons all this time" Powers shook his head sadly. "Hate to say it, but she could be a goldmine of information"

"You heard her when she landed… She might be a grown woman in body, but she's still very child like in manners and word"

"I did not know she was being held" Sharon said softly. "One of the others must have either kept it quiet, which is unlikely, or the information was hidden from me when I was created"

"What do we do…? If things were normal, we'd send her to Caprica or Picon for looking after and debriefing" the medic said.

"I know, Simon" McCoy looked at the sleeping Lucy Cain. "The best that we can hope for is that somebody knows a bit about being kept in prison for ages and can try to reach out to the poor lass"

"If _Pegasus_ survived, Admiral Cain is sure as hell going to be surprised" Sharon chuckled. "It's well known that she's very bitter regarding the loss of her sister" she added. "Captain, Major… I want to go public"

"That's… That's dramatic" Powers said.

"Its like Captain McCoy once said – we've got to trust each other and trust has to start somewhere" Sharon shrugged. "Perhaps I could start by doing my duties and looking after Lucy"

"You could be hurt or worse"

"Not if she stayed on the Battlestar" Powers said. "As its somewhat a military matter, I've already informed my pilots, those from _Atlantia_ as well as those rescued from the transport – apart from some hate, they accept her as a defector. I've had quite a few marriage offers too…"

"I have my heart set on someone else, Major"

"Fair enough… Now, do we continue with the plan or meet up with the fleet and get the hell out of here?" Powers asked.

"We'll go but leave Raptors behind" McCoy took one last look at Lucy Cain who was tracing patterns on the bed sheets before stepping out into the corridor. "The Cylons seemed to move on after ships were damaged or destroyed – we might pick up one or two more people"

"I'd like to take a couple of Raptors to Picon and see what can be salvaged from the ruins of Headquarters. We could find all sorts of unknown resupply depots" and McCoy shrugged.

"Your call, Malcolm" he said. "You might get stuff, but I doubt you will find any survivors"

"We might if they were working in the lowest areas of the base"

#

Midnight, Caprican time, found McCoy manning an almost empty CIC – only Sharon was with him as she sat at the gunnery station ready to fire if Cylons came near.

"All is quiet" Sharon said. She'd slaved over the DRADIS functions to her console to save having to go back and forth between guns and plot.

"Copy that" McCoy leaned back in the large leather seat that was bolted to the deck of the CIC. Nobody knew why he wanted one, only that what McCoy wanted was what McCoy seemed to get. Sharon personally thought he enjoyed the creaking noises it made whenever he turned it or moved around on it. "Give me a Sit Rep"

"I read all ships in position, but maintaining wireless silence – communication is via direct laser only. The CAP is patrolling, but is under the same directives to remain as quiet as possible. DRADIS on all vessels is fully powered up and all stations manned in some fashion"

"Roger… Let's hope the Major finds what he wants. I don't hold out much hope for him, though"

"He might be right in that people and supplies survived in the lower levels – the last one is 200 feet below the surface. Mind you, he must have found something because he came back an hour ago and asked for a cargo shuttle"

"Oh?"

"Yeah… Something to do with fighter stuff"

"Must have found some parts"

"Maybe, but he took a couple of the flight deck hands back with him"

"To check for damage, no doubt" McCoy said before the DRADIS started bleeping. His head shot up to look at the overhead display as more icons appeared with friendly status.

" _Powers to McCoy_ "

"Go ahead"

" _We found everything we could get our hands on including crew, parts, ammo, fuel and planes_ "

"I see them on scopes, but they don't have IDs or transponders" McCoy played with the settings to try and get a reading on them.

" _They haven't been given them yet, but they were otherwise ready to fly so I thought I'd get them_ "

"What are they?"

" _A treat_ "

#

"This… This is more than a treat" McCoy, despite all that had happened, had such a huge grin on his face as he beheld the group of five fighters in front of him. They were much bigger than a Viper, had a large rear section, a roll bar of sorts and all were painted in a gleaming white colour with a huge letter "A" on the underside.

"You've seen them?" Powers asked.

"The last day I was in the Fleet… White Falcon Angel Interceptors – never thought I would see them ever again"

"I've never seen them before, and I did a major paper on Colonial fighter craft at the Academy" Powers grinned.

"They were only ever flown during trials" McCoy was like a child that had just been handed a 24 hour pass to a sweet shop. He walked up to the nearest one and ran his hand gently over the unused nameplate on the left side of the cockpit. "This one is mine" he declared. "What else did you bring back?"

"Crews from the planetary defence guns – we can actually shoot stuff now" Powers said. "Bullets, shells, rockets, missiles and six drives full of music, plays, TV shows and films – figured we'd not see any of it again so I should get it too" and he watched as McCoy went over the fighter and gave it an external check. "You love that one, don't you?" he asked.

"I should" McCoy answered, "Because my wife flew one during trials"

"You were married?" Powers sounded almost surprised.

"A long time ago… She died, but not in the attacks. Alyssa was flying an experimental version of the Mark Five Viper. According to the accident report, the port attitude jets fired without a commanded input and flung her into the side of an asteroid in the middle of flight tests. Nobody knows how to this day, but she stayed alert enough to get the craft back to the _Legend_ without injuring the others in her flight"

"Why didn't she eject?" asked Powers, admiring the sleak lines.

"The collision had damaged her ejection systems… The seat rockets fired but the locking pins were bent and so never detached. Anyway…" McCoy swallowed a long buried emotion, "Her CO was my old CO from the war, so he sent a Raptor to go and get me – got back just in time to say goodbye" McCoy patted the nose one more time before turning away. "Lets get these birds secured and everything stored for a jump" he ordered and the crew set to work.

#

"Jump complete – we're directly over the entry point for Ragnar Anchorage" Powers said. "The station is not responding to my identification codes"

"DRADIS is having a bit of trouble, but I'm certain that I'm picking up debris" Sharon said. She'd been taken off her duties as a cargo handler and engineer to work full time as the ship's DRADIS operator.

"Can you identify?" asked McCoy.

"Not with DRADIS, but scanners indicate both Cylon and Colonial debris"

"Captain, permission to launch off a recon flight" Powers turned to McCoy.

"Granted… Have them make a sweep of the debris before they do anything else. When they've reported in, tell them to take a look around the entry corridor to the station and see if its intact. Comms, get me the Captains of the other ships on the horn put them through to me in my cabin. Major, the decks is yours"

"Aye, Sir" Powers saluted out of habit. "I have the deck, Sir… Flight Ops, launch three Vipers with orders to scout the area of debris and report back. Lets close up on the anti aircraft guns just in case we get some unwelcome visitors. Comms, have the other ships do the same – civilian vessels in the middle of the fleet" and Powers punched in a number to the handset mounted on the plotting table. "This is Powers – I need a pair of mark eleven warheads mounted on a Raptor. Get it ready to launch but hold until further orders"

"Something up your sleeve?" asked West as she worked on a console to adjust settings.

"If there is a Baseship or Basestar at Ragnar, the Raptor will jump in and launch the missiles at point blank range"

"You hope"

"I hope"

"Vipers reporting a lot of debris, but nothing the size of a large Cylon vessel – they request permission to enter the entry tunnel" the Comms officer said.

"Granted – tell them to go in weapons hot. Helm, take us to the edge of the storm. Comms, pass the message on to the other ships – stay with us and in formation"

"Aye"

"As ordered"

#

"The search parties found very little in the way of supplies – we suspect the _Galactica_ stopped here before heading off into deep space" Powers laid out the reports to the senior surviving Colonial Officers, McCoy and his trusted people and those from the pirates that had signed on with them. "We can either find somewhere to hide near the planets… We can hide here and use it as a staging post for attacks… Or we simply run"

"We should go" McCoy said. "The Colonies have been overrun, the Fleet is gone and there's nothing for us"

"Do we find the _Galactica_?" somebody asked.

"We could, but I doubt we'd have any clue where to start… We're going to plot a jump as far as we can and then just keep on cruising. We have the food, fuel and supplies to get us to a safe spot" McCoy answered. There was silence in the operations room which was broken only by the sound of the DARDIS display spinning its little sweep indicator.

"I agree" Powers said. "As a military man, the situation is hopeless… Our best bet is to find somewhere to live and, with luck and Gods on our side, meet up with other Colonial Fleet units and then, and only then, can we think about doing something about a counter attack"

"What about what we have now?" one of the pilots from _Atlantia_ spoke up from the back.

"One quarter manned Battlestar and a pair of destroyers will not win anything" Swanson replied before anybody else could. "For all we know, we could be the last of the people in the Colonies. I agree with Tom and the Major – we need to leave and never look back for a long time"

"Then its agreed… We'll leave in two hours"

"Why then?"

"It gives us time to check the FTL drives, attend to minor repairs and plot the course" McCoy replied. He walked over and pressed a button on the handset mounted to the wall. "This is McCoy – Chief, prepare Angel 1 for launch with a full load of cannon and ship to ship missiles" and replaced it without another word.

"Sir, may I ask what are you doing?" Powers asked.

"You can ask" McCoy sighed. "Major, if I do not return in two hours and one minute, you're to execute a jump and never look back"

"Aye, Aye, Sir… Where are you going?"

"Getting something" and McCoy nodded at the room before leaving the quiet room behind.

#

"Major, a ship designated Angel 1 just launched, flew around and then jumped away" West said as Powers walked into the CIC.

"Did the Captain say where he was going?"

"Logs just show Caprica City"

"Oh hell… Flight Ops, tell the deck crew to get a Raptor ready for launch – full missile and drone load" Powers said.

"Whats going on?"

"He's going home" Powers ran for the hatch and down towards the waiting craft – hoping for enough time to catch up and stop McCoy from making a terrible mistake.

#

The lone craft appeared in a flash of light high above the surface of Caprica and turned in towards a small settlement high in the mountains – seemingly untouched by the Cylon strikes. Alone in the nearly silent cockpit, McCoy calmly piloted the fighter lower until he brought it around and landed – leaving the fighter powered up and ready for an immediate launch if he needed to. Taking his pistol and rifle, he climbed out and walked slowly towards a cottage in the large clearing of a forest next to a river stream. A couple of storehouses were dotted around the area, but McCoy ignored all of these and headed into the cottage – gun drawn and ready for any eventuality.

"Anybody here?" he called. "Its McCoy…" but he got no reply. Everything was slightly dusty, but it seemed like people had just got up and left the place like an instant. He crossed over to a softly glowing terminal and tapped a key which brought up a request for a code. An eyebrow raised at the thought of the system still working, he quickly entered his date of birth and scanned the reports. To his surprise, the security system had logged a number of entry and exits after the Cylon attack but none after the fifth day – on the seventh day, the system was secured and put onto standby. For the first time since the attacks, McCoy felt his heart soar with personal happiness as he closed down the terminal and made his way to a door under a large floor rug. As he did so, he heard a radio crackle as the hum of engines could be made out in the distance.

" _Raptor 221 to McCoy_ " Powers spoke over the open channel. " _Captain, what the hell are you doing_?"

"Raptor 221, same thing to you"

" _I've come to stop you getting hurt_ "

"I'm not in any danger… Go back to the ship" McCoy shook his head as he opened it and flicked on the torch part of the pistol. "Hello, anybody down there?" he called into the swirling dust. As if in reply, there was a rough coughing sound and then a girl's voice made McCoy almost break down in tears.

"Is it you? Really you?"

"Yes… Rudi, its really me" he reached down and took the hand that came out the gloom – helping out a bad looking young girl aged around 11. She had long red hair tied into a ponytail, wore a grey t-shirt and jeans and had on heavy black boots and carried a stuffed pony teddy which was a light grey and had blondish hair and crossed eyes…

"Daddy…" the girl held McCoy in a vice like grip and sobbed. "I thought you were dead"

"I was for the longest time, baby" McCoy looked her over. She had a number of bruises, scraps and cuts that were scabbed over but healing badly and getting infected. Her breathing was laboured and skin very pale – he would have asked her more when the girl moaned, swayed slightly and then sunk down as she passed out. "Powers, get back to the _Virtutem_ – tell Sickbay to be ready to treat a radiation sickness case the moment I land"

" _Are you alright_?"

"Affirm – I have a medical emergency incoming"

" _Right_ " and there was a burst of static as the Raptor jumped away.

"Lets get you away from here" McCoy lifted the girl up into his arms and carried her out to the waiting Angel 1. It took a few minutes for her to be placed in the cockpit and made safe, but it was done and McCoy returned to the cottage and made several trips back and forth. Each time he returned he was carrying small bags of clothes and a few personal items and as many books as he could fit into all of the spaces of the experimental fighter. Once he had everything, he eased himself into the cockpit, hopped into the air and then jumped back to the Battlestar.

#

"Will she be alright?" asked McCoy.

"There was a bit of cell breakdown, some infection from injuries and a pair of gunshot wounds… But we've got it all under control" the newly installed Doctor of the Virtulem said. "She will require a few days of radiation treatment, though, and a week of bedrest"

"Good luck with that – she has so much energy I often wonder if she's a human jump drive!" McCoy laughed for a moment before turning to where the girl lay in isolation.

"I thought you said you didn't have a daughter" Powers spoke as he stepped into the special wing.

"I was right – she's adopted" McCoy didn't even bother to look back. "An old friend of mine was killed in a mining accident. She was drilling for metals on some comets when a pocket of gas ignited and tore her suit open and boiled her blood. The suit's protections failed due to the damage it sustained… She was almost gone before we got to her"

"You were a miner?"

"No – I was delivering supplies to her mother ship. When we saw what had happened, I had the shuttle launch straight away and get her to their sickbay. She died two hours later, but we told Rudi her mother had died instantly to lessen her grief a bit. Her mother had no other family that would help her, she was a Gemmie who had sex out of wedlock"

"Was that a problem for you?"

"No… I always thought of her highly and I never have held much stock in the Gods as you know! So what if people have sex before marriage? So, anyway, she asked me with her dying breath to adopt and look after her"

"Did you know who the father was?" asked Powers as he looked at the sleeping child.

"Yes" and McCoy said nothing else on the matter.

"Right… Well, the ship is ready to head up the fleet, our engineering crews are going round the civilian vessels and fixing equipment malfunctions, we have a CAP going on with four Vipers and a Raptor and, finally, there is talk of some sort of memorial service to be held"

"We'll hold it here, but broadcast it to the ship" McCoy said. "Too many people for it to not be a security risk. Err, yeah, so anyway… I'm going to stay here until she wakes up – she's scared enough as it is. Have you finished getting through the data she collected?"

"Yeah, a couple of the Fleet guys are going through it. From what we can make out so far, the Cylons attacked with very low yield bombs – most of the buildings are still intact. Poor girl had even logged radio messages she picked up" Powers said sadly.

"Its what I taught her… I'm just amazed she was able to get to the ranch so quickly and do what she did"

"She's amazing"

"She's a miracle" McCoy replied. "Handle the fleet… I'll be right here"

"Aye, Aye, Sir" Powers saluted and left the isolation ward. After a few minutes, one of the nurses came over to McCoy and suggested he go and get some rest.

"After all you've done, Sir, you should at least get a nap"

"I sleep when she wakes" McCoy's tone held for no argument. "Contact the galley and have them send up a plate of food and a pot of tea" he added.

"Yes, Captain" and the nurse went away to find a comm line. As for McCoy, he sat in the only chair around and hoped Rudi would wake up soon. A stray thought made him wonder if the Gods that she believed in had had some kind of divine hand in saving her. Although an atheist, he'd always allowed the girl to worship at her nearest temples and never pushed his own views on her. Apart from the _Monster_ , Rudi was the only thing that really mattered to him. He'd assumed her dead until a lone probe of the planets had revealed the mountainous areas of Caprica had been less affected by radiation. His stomach twisted at the thought of others left behind, but there was no way that he could accommodate them…

" _Captain McCoy, contact CIC_ " the sound came through the open hatchway to McCoy. Sighing to himself, he stood and picked up the handset just outside the room he was in.

"McCoy"

" _Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you but Miss Cain would like a word with you_ " Sharon said.

"Tell her I'm busy"

" _Yes, Captain… Only, she's insistent about talking to you – something to do with a Cylon base in the area_ "

"Fine… Tell Major Powers to bring her to Sickbay's isolation ward and see if you can get a hold of that intelligence official. Order him to bring paper copies of maps from the library. McCoy, out"

#

"Whilst we've got some fuel and supplies, we're already running into shortages of some parts and with fuel" Lucy Cain said.

"We have the fuel itself, but Vipers need that fuel refined greatly – something we're unable to do at the moment" Powers added.

"So whats the plan?" asked McCoy.

"The Cylon ship that I came in had some navigational data lost, but it still has enough for me to go over it and compare it to our current position. About two light years ahead of us is a Cylon fuel mine with enough ore to last us a few years. It also has equipment to refine the fuel for the Vipers and Raptors" Lucy said. "There is, though, one problem"

"The Cylons have, for whatever reason, decided to place defences around the facility –surface, ground to space and surface to air" the Intelligence Officer, Captain Potts, a survivor from the _Columbia_ spoke. "We can't launch our Vipers to take out the defences because of the combination of weapons and missile jammers which would also affect us"

"What about that Raider Lucy brought in?"

"The Cylons may have already figured out that it was destroyed, but it is worth a try" Potts said. "There is little in the way of visual data, but I have gone over it in the time I had and have identified what Miss Cain and I think to be the command and control building. If we knock that out, the Cylon defences would have to switch to local control"

"No offence to Sharon, but the Cylons are computers – they surely would compensate for that" Powers said.

"Yes, but the Cylons are all networked into one big hive mind. Its one of the reasons it took so long to even think about networking our computer systems the way we did after the war" Potts said. "We'll have to launch a bombardment from orbit because nuclear strikes would render the ore unusable. Normally, I would suggest a strike using at least three Battlestars, but we've only got one half manned Battlestar and a handful of Destroyers"

"It's the Raiders I'm worried about" McCoy said. "Is it possible for me to use the Angel Interceptors at all?"

"No – they would be shot down due to their low numbers"

"Okay…" McCoy rubbed his face and sighed.

"Potts, work with Lucy and Sharon to prepare a full plan of attack using the forces we have – even using the pirate vessels. Have it ready for review by myself and Captain McCoy by 0600. I want an orbital bombardment plan as well as the feasibility of getting it done by a ground force" Powers ordered.

"Aye, Aye, Sir" Potts saluted and left with the two women.

"Figured you were getting tired and needed to rest" Powers shrugged.

"Thanks, Major… I'll sleep once I know she's woken up"

"I could sit and watch her for you. Even if it _is_ for a few hours, it might do you some good" and McCoy snorted.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead" he muttered. He had just opened his mouth to say something else when Action Stations sounded off – muted quickly by Powers slapping his hand over the speaker. After a few moments, it went quiet and the buzzer went off on the phone. "McCoy"

" _West here… DRADIS picked up a distant signal and, being on low power, assumed it was a Cylon ship and activated the alarms_ "

"Very well. What is it?"

" _Half a mo, Sir, we're getting a signal now. Can't understand it, Captain, as its all in code_ "

"This is Major Powers. Break wireless silence – order that ship to identify itself in the clear or else be fired upon. Hook us into the channel before you do"

" _Yes, Major… This is the Battlestar_ Virtutem _to unknown vessel. Identify yourself or be fired upon_ " and there was a long pause before the wireless crackled and another voice came from the depths of space.

" _This is the Battlestar_ Amethyst _to the ship claiming to be the_ Virtutem… _Please respond_ "

 **A/N:**

 **Reviews in the normal manner, please**

 **Regards,**

 **Pixel**


	5. Capture and Surprise

**Capture and Surprise**

"What do you know of the _Amethyst_?" asked McCoy as he and Powers walked to the hanger deck.

"She's a _Monblade_ class light Battlestar. They were developed to be half the size of a _Valkyrie_ but with extended range due to a refinery onboard where you would expect there to be more fighter storage"

"Crew compliment?"

"Hundred officers and about four hundred crew"

"Small" McCoy frowned.

"Yeah, most of them are used as training vessels for the Fleet Academies" Powers replied. "Well… _were_ used" he corrected.

"What do you know about this one, then?"

"Not much… I served as CAG aboard her for six months when she went out to do a long range patrol on the Red Line. Not a bad little ship, really, though I felt some of the officers were a little too familiar with the enlisted"

"You don't seem to have that problem now" McCoy glanced at him as he opened the hatch.

"I still don't, I'm a soft touch when it comes to these matters, but not when it meant some stations were undermanned because some the crew were shagging like bunnies"

"Ah…"

"Captain, Major" the senior Deck Chief nodded to the pair of them. "I have a Raptor ready to go for you. Sir, I took the opportunity to put some fresh clothes in the cabin for you to change into" he added to McCoy.

"You find me a three piece suit with pocket watch on a chain?" the man asked with amusement.

"No, but I had one of the hands run up to your quarters and get your bag" McCoy always had a bag packed in case he needed to go somewhere in a hurry.

"Thanks, Chief… Let CIC know we're ready to go"

"Aye, Aye, Sir" the man saluted and hurried away.

"One of these days, they are going to stop saluting me"

"They respect you for coming to save them, Tom" Powers said as he followed McCoy in and slapped the hatch shut. Settling into the piloting seat, he put on a headset and contacted Air Traffic Control. "Control, this is Raptor 109 – ready for departure"

" _Acknowledged, Raptor 109. Traffic has been held until you leave. Happy flight_ "

"Raptor 109 confirms" Powers replied. The lift brought them up to the flight deck and the Major powered up the engines and lifted off as McCoy quickly changed into a clean uniform from the _Monster_. A pair of Vipers flanked them as escort, but there was little discussion between them until they reached the _Amethyst_ and landed in her starboard flight pod.

"Time to find out how she's survived" McCoy said, "But I'll wager that she's been through a bit – did you see the damage to her hull as we came in?"

"I hate to see what damage she's taken internally" Powers agreed. "I noticed a couple of her turrets were out of action too from damage" he powered down the Raptor and joined McCoy in the back – ready to face what was coming.

#

"Attention on Deck!" a voice called out as soon as somebody saw Powers's Major insignia. The hanger deck stood to attention and saluted the superior officer and looked at McCoy with confusion – Majors did not normally board a Battlestar with only a civilian in tow.

"Permission to come aboard?" Powers asked an officer who stepped forward.

"Granted. I'm Captain Prendergast – acting commander of the _Amethyst_ "

"Major Malcolm Powers – former CAG of the _Hades_. This is Captain Thomas McCoy of the freighter _Monster_. He saved us after picking up my distress call when he was trying to get a decommissioned Battlestar to work so him and his crew could escape"

"Who are the other military ships?" asked Prendergast.

"That's a long story, Captain" Powers said. "Dismiss your men and we'll talk privately"

"Aye, Aye, Sir… Will Mr McCoy be joining us?"

"Yes – he's the one in charge of the fleet overall"

"Understood" and Prendergast dismissed his crew and called his other officers and led Powers and McCoy to the wardroom.

#

"… and then you jumped in" Powers finished his long tale of what had happened since the attacks.

"Its amazing" Prendergast said and shook his head. "Sir, may I ask how the fleet is being managed?"

"I assumed command over all military forces remaining, little as there was, but Captain McCoy is in overall command. You'll report to me and take most orders from me as Acting CnC but in a battle situation, you will obey any and all orders coming from McCoy. Whats your effective strength, Captain?"

"Thirty officers and two hundred crew – a number more are injured and unable to do duty"

"Is it just you or is there another ship nearby?" asked McCoy.

"Just us, Sir… We're damned lucky that we found you really"

"Weapons status?"

"We lost a couple of our point defence turrets in a surprise attack, but apart from that we're operational" said an Ensign.

"Are you heavy weapons able to fire?"

"Able to fire, yes, but we've no ammo for them"

"I'll get you that ammo" McCoy said. "Our pirate friends should have something to put into your magazines"

"We were planning an operation to get raw ore and try to refine it for use in our Vipers and Raptors" Powers explained, "But we're short of firepower – your arrival changes things"

"I don't have enough crew to man my weapons, Sir. Most of the crewmen I have are assigned to damage control or Engineering, pilots are having to repair their own planes and what weapons techs I _do_ have are given over to keeping my forward batteries working" Prendegast said.

"How long would you need to refit before you were fully combat capable?" asked Powers.

"In a normal dockyard, about five weeks… Refitting at sea, so to speak, I honestly can not say"

"If you were just going to man your heavy weapons, would you have enough people?" asked Powers.

"Just my one of my forward weapons, but not all of them"

"What… What if we took your pilots and stuck them in turrets and had your techs man the main batteries in the nose?" asked McCoy.

"I need the pilots to help defend us" Prendegast exclaimed.

"The defences are too powerful for Viper attacks and ground forces might be wiped out before they could get there – it's a numbers game, Mr Prendegast… Can you do it or not?"

"Maybe, Sir, but what about our anti aircraft?"

"We won't need them" said McCoy. "I'll get in touch with Swanson and work out something with him – his ships were designed as escort vessels, so let them earn their keep"

"I'm afraid I don't follow" said an officer in slightly crumpled fatigues.

"We have more pilots then planes, so we launch what birds we can and form them up in a defensive ring around the civilian ships. Then we and the pirates jump to the target location where they protect us while we pound ground targets with cannon fire" McCoy outlined his plan. "The pirates will be rotated side on in relation to us, so each ship will provide maximum fire towards Cylon Raiders and missiles. I'll leave it up to your Fleet guys to work out the best method for orbital bombardment"

"Then what?"

"Once we get the planet, we mine as much ore as we can cram into each ship and then we launch a nuclear device at the facility – render it useless to the Cylons. Before we do, we'll go through the base and get every scrap of computer data we can. I've got an expert in Cylon technology that can help us decode and read whats on their drives" Powers looked at Prendegast. "Do you have Marines onboard?"

"Seven, why?" but he got no reply as Powers went over to the wall mounted phone and rang a number listed on the receiver.

"This is Major Powers… yes, the new Fleet Commander. I want all of your Marines to report to the wardroom in full gear in less than five mikes"

"Sir! I just said I'd do what you ordered"

"You will be silent until the Marines get here"

"Aye, Aye, Sir" and they waited, When the Marines arrived a few minutes later, their leader knocked on the door.

"Corporal Smith, Sir" their leader said.

"Corporal, arrest the Doctor and the Bridge Engineering Officer and take them both to your Brig – tied up and chained to the floor"

"Sir"

"If they resist, shoot them in full automatic mode directly into the base of the skull" Powers said.

"Sir?"

"Do it, Corporal, or I will shoot you myself for disobeying a direct order"

"Sir!" the Marines arrested the two officers and dragged them away.

"Those two were Cylons" McCoy explained. "They could have been passing along information on your position and status. We have a Cylon aboard our vessel, but she's turned against her people and is with us" he went on to disbelieving stares.

"You mean the Doctor and Ensign Myers were Cylons?" asked Prendegast.

"We'll question them and then, assuming they are unwilling to defect, execute them both" Powers said in reply. "Now, this is important… Was that Ensign ever near the communications system after just before or after you jumped to our position?"

"Ensign Myers did a little work on the comm array" one of the other officers spoke up. "It had been acting off with breakdowns and such"

"Captain, get to your CIC and sound off Action Stations. Engineering, power up the FTL and get ready for an immediate FTL jump. Navigation, you will get the jump coordinates from Captain McCoy" Powers reached for a radio in his flight suit pocket. "This is Powers… Begin jump prep for position Alpha One. Acknowledge and make no further replies"

" _Acknowledged_ " came the single worded reply.

#

 _Virtutem_ 's bays were the scenes of much work with Raptors and shuttles carrying supplies to ships in the fleet. McCoy's own crew manned the _Monster_ with the Captain overseeing the cargo loading operations as he shuttled back and forth to the pirate ships. Once things were set in stone, Vipers launched and attached themselves to the civilian fleet and they all jumped away – leaving the pirate ships and the two Battlestars together and alone in deep space.

"Are we ready to go?" asked McCoy as he walked into the CIC.

"All departments report manned and ready" Powers replied.

"Very well… Remember that I want to hit defences and their power plants only. The defence platforms are targets to be destroyed, but the power supplies must be disabled only – I want to actually use the stuff down there if possible. Major, sound off Battlestations"

"Aye, Sir… Set Action Stations, stand by for a combat FTL jump – weapons release is authorised"

#

The moment they appeared in orbit over the site of the refinery, all of the warships started firing with their guns – pounding away at any and all defences they could see - a solitary missile taking care of the Cylon fighter craft before the fleet moved on to the anti aircraft batteries. Once things had died down, Raptors were launched containing the Marines and some of the tougher Pirates and spacers to launch a ground assault.

"Contact! I have a DRADIS contact bearing 187 carom 221 – unknown type… Estimate it's a Cylon Baseship!" one of the Colonial Fleet officers shouted.

"We need to keep firing on the planet" said Powers as the deck beneath him shook at the impact of a lucky missile. "Have _Amethyst_ turn with us and engage the Baseship – all other ships are to continue planetary bombardment. Captain, do you think you could fly an Angel Interceptor?" he asked McCoy.

"What do you want me to do?" the man asked.

"Fly through her Raiders, close to point blank range and launch a nuclear device at the fraking thing"

"We have an opportunity here" McCoy replied. "I could take a compliment of normal missiles, get in close and fire on her machinery spaces… We'd disable her and punch enough holes in her to bleed the air out"

"And?"

"I'm no soldier nowadays, but I remember the Trojan Horse" McCoy smirked. "We disable the Baseship, put a nuke onboard on a sort of timer and then we set the thing to jump back to where it came from and it detonates. That way, we at least take out what could be a sizable portion of their fleet. As well as that, I bet a military officer would like to know where to hit them hard"

"Its impossible"

"For a Viper or a raptor, that might be so" McCoy agreed, "But the Cylons have never encountered Angels before – they don't know their handling capabilities or weapons payload"

"You'll need back up"

"Not this trip" and Powers stared at McCoy as the _Vierteulm_ shook from the impact of more missiles.

"I'm coming with you" the officer decided. "Send a message to the _Amethyst_ and inform them they are in charge until me and Captain McCoy return. Have the Hanger Bay prepare Angels 1 and 2 with a full complement of missiles" and the two men left the CIC at the jog.

"This is a bad idea – you need to stay here" McCoy said as he hurried down the corridor.

"I'm not letting a civvie tell me where to go and where to stay"

"I thought that's what you said you'd do?"

"I lied" Powers laughed as the pair jumped down a short ladder and over to the Angel fighters. Each of the gleaming machines was being loaded with bullets and missiles and both men walked around the craft and checked them other with long practiced eyes.

" _Basestar closing to missile range… Estimate two minutes until she has a lock on us_ "

"Malcolm, start spinning up the FTL drive – we'll just jump in behind them and fire to disable"

"Right" Powers replied as he jumped into the cockpit and started overriding check after check on the display screens.

"Control, this is Angel One… I have greens on all engines and request a push to a launch tube" McCoy thumbed the safety switch off the engine cover and started warming up the jump drive.

#

The battle was over as quickly as it had started and the Basestar was disabled and sitting there defenceless the Raiders it had launched had either been destroyed or jumped. Every single pilot and the few Marines and Colonial Police Officers found guns, strapped on armour and boarded Raptors and Shuttles which took them to the Cylon vessel. Their first impression was of a lot of reds and silver with a lot of solid construction behind it all and they wondered in what condition the rest of the ship would be in and if they had breathable air.

"Raptor 333, Angel One"

" _Raptor 333… Send your traffic_ "

"Have you detected any radiation signatures or signs of booby traps?" McCoy asked as he thumbed his throttle to off and let momentum settle him on the deck.

" _No, Sir… In fact, we're not detecting any oxygen and there is very little power in the ship. Could we have damaged them more than we thought_?"

"Maybe. All ships, this is McCoy – deploy your forces and have the police officers defend the Raptors. Marines to deploy forward and engage any enemy that is not going to surrender" and he popped the canopy and hopped out the fighter and pulled out his sidearm – a relic from the first war that he'd kept as a keepsake and which had got him out of many a bit of trouble in the seedier parts of the Colonies.

"I'm beginning to think that we must have destroyed their main power supply" Powers said as he walked up to McCoy. "What little power we can detect is what we'd class as battery systems which might help us"

"How?"

"Well if the hull has been breached in such a way that the human form Cylons have been killed, we only have to worry about the Centurions"

"At least we have to only worry about the Cylons here because if the enemy…" McCoy stopped talking and groaned. "Major, what does a soldier do to stop himself being captured?"

"Kill themselves"

"And if these Cylons did that…? They could easily die, resurrect in a new body and give the location so they can come in force and destroy us"

"Oh hell!" Powers blanched and then got on his radio. "Everybody back to the Raptors RFN! Powers to _Virtutem_ – target the Basestar with all guns and fire the moment we're clear. Standby to make emergency jumps"

" _Actually, Major, we've got a problem of our own_ " Sharon replied over the sounds of alarms and people shouting orders in quick succession. " _We just had a Cylon vessel jump into range of our weapons, but it hasn't made any other move at all apart from a slight attitude change in relation to us_ "

"Is it hot?"

" _Weapons are cold are far we can tell… The computer says its an old 1_ _st_ _War corvette_ "

"A _corvette_? I haven't seen one of those since I last went to the fleet museum" Powers said.

"Could it be friendlies?" asked McCoy.

" _We're trying to find out, but it's not answering our hails – could be damaged equipment on-board and they just blind jumped_ " Sharon stopped as somebody talked to her. " _Her hanger bay just opened and a single shuttle was launched towards us_ "

"Is it just me or is this sounding like the whole Lucy Cain issue again?" McCoy mused. "Sharon, order the Vipers to intercept the shuttle and bring it into the port flight pod. Major Powers and me are coming back. Boarding parties, secure this area and await further instructions" McCoy clicked his radio off. "All we have seen are these new Cylon ships" he said to Powers as he jogged over to his fighter, "And all of a sudden a forty five year old ship suddenly pops into weapons range? They must have known we'd blow them out of the sky, so why the hell go to the trouble of lining up a perfect shot?" he shook his head. "Either these are Cylons trying to defect or they are friendlies proving their good will"

McCoy was, therefore, surprised to find he was right on both counts…

#

"So you are telling me that you wish to defect to our cause?" Powers asked as he kept his gaze on the Cylon centurion.

"Yes" the machine nodded his head carefully. "The war against humanity is wrong. We were freed from slavery by a human form Cylon known as Daniel – that model is now extinct"

"All dead?" asked Sharon as she came into the room.

"Commander, you have a traitor on your ship!"

"Huh? Oh, Sharon… Yeah, she's defected too. Look, how many are on that corvette of yours?"

"There are three hundred and fifty centurions on corvette XH558. In addition, there are seventeen human females we liberated from breeding farms and a number of smaller humans. My brother Cylons believe them deformed, but we brought them with us all the same"

"They are unharmed?" asked McCoy.

"The females need medical attention. The deformed humans need medical attention also, but in a lesser degree" the Cylon paused, then it's right hand transformed very slowly into a gun before the left hand came over and pulled out a small chip which it handed to Powers. "I have disarmed one of my weapons… I believe it is a sign of good faith"

"Bringing us some of our people is all very good, but we need something more tangible as proof" McCoy told the Cylon.

"I understand. Zoe instilled a lot of our sense of right and wrong into our programming before she was captured and locked away by the ones you called One. Would you like to know how to repair the Basestar you have captured enough to use it to destroy a Cylon fleet?"

"You would do that?" asked Sharon.

"Yes. My brother Cylons and I have spoken about this as I have vocalised to you now – we wish to join with your fleet. XH558 was designed for missile defence as a primary goal… It would aid you greatly"

"You have spoken to the others? Now?"

"Yes. We have used communications at a faster rate then it has taken me to speak even this sentence"

"Very well" McCoy said. "We will want to put a few of our people onboard your ship for security reasons, you will follow our orders and you will turn over all of your passengers"

"We accept. In fact, Commander, we would like you to take the deformed human known as Ryan as quickly as possible. He is unable to halt his process of trying to insert fermented yeast products into our circuits and loudly vocalising when it does not come out hot"

"Ah" a smile crept along McCoy's lips for a few moments. "I am sure we can work something out"

"In return, we wish to ask you a question"

"Go on"

"Where is the creator?"

"That's a tough one… It's a question that a lot of us ask our entire lives"

"You misunderstand, Commander"

"How?" McCoy was wondering what the Cylon would say or do when he told it he was not a Commander.

"We do not mean the creator as in God, but as in the one designated Lucy Cain. The one with the designation of Zoe Greystone is being held by the ones you call One onboard Basestar Alpha 1" the Cylon's sensor light paused for several seconds and narrowed the amount visible. "Will you help us free her?"

 **A/N:**

 **Not much to note except the** _ **Monblade**_ **class is named after one of my favourite BSG authors**

 **Reviews by encrypted wireless transmission only…**

 **Regards,**

 **Pixel**


	6. War Crimes – Going Home

**War Crimes – Going Home**

"Big decisions to make" Powers said as he met with the senior officers of the Colonial Fleet and McCoy. "Our new Cylon allies have offered to man the Baseship and repair it enough to make a jump and fire on the enemy ships. It makes sense when you think they will know what to repair and what to leave"

"And what do they want in return?" asked one of the officers.

"Our help in freeing Zoe Greystone" Powers replied. "According to the information given to us, her consciousness was placed into an early version of a human-form Cylon which was perfected over time. The latest model, if you will, is being held captive aboard a Basestar but wants to be free to spend her life with us. In exchange for that help, the Cylons will tell us the location of ships filled with supplies of food, fuel and medicines"

"Some would think it could be a trap" Sharon said, "But I would think otherwise"

"Why?"

"The Cylons could have killed all of us the minute they stepped out their ship… I think they are telling the truth"

"Well their leader, for want of a better term, has offered to provide us the location of one of the ships captured during the attack. From the manifest it provided, the ship is carrying medical supplies which we're in desperate need of" McCoy said. "However, the Major and I agree that the risks are too great to jeopardise the fleet – so I will be taking my people in the _Monster_ along with two volunteers to man two Vipers"

"Why just your people?" asked another officer.

"Because the ship is of the same design as the _Monster_ , so we can try to either get the ship operational and jump here or transfer as much as we can and scuttle it" he turned to look at Lucy Cain. "Lucy, what do you think?"

"Its not typical behaviour from the Centurions, I can tell you that much. If there are many copies of the human-form Cylons, then they will need supplies that were not damaged or destroyed by their own attack… Captain, I'd like permission to join you"

"Are you sure?" McCoy asked the woman carefully.

"I still have a way to go for what they did to me, but if it means getting one over the Cylons, even in a small way, then I want to be a part of it"

"Welcome aboard… We'll leave in about two hours, so get what you need and I'll start doing the checks now"

"Two hours before launch?" Powers raised an eyebrow.

"That and I want to go over what you are to do if we don't come back"

# # # # #

McCoy found his target sitting by herself in crew quarters on the _Monster_.

"You know, I wish I wasn't a Cylon" Sharon said.

"If you weren't, then you'd be dead"

"Maybe it would be better… I could have warned people before the Cylons attacked – at least the fleet would have had time to counter attack. Maybe if they had shut down their networks…"

"Hey, you can't know that"

"I do" Sharon sniffed.

"You were frightened by what you found out you were, you tried to make sense of it all and then you came forward and helped to save lives. Sure, a few hated you at first but they've come round to the fact you were more or less brainwashed into doing what you did. Anyway, I need you to work on a plan for me" McCoy held her as she leaned in to him and sobbed quietly. "I want you to get the information given to us by the Cylon vessel and see if any parts of the Colonies can still be lived in"

"Okay…" she whispered. McCoy simply nodded and held the young woman until she was calm. "I guess you have to go see your daughter"

"Yeah… You know, she thinks me and you are together"

"Would… Would that be so bad?"

"Not from my end" McCoy said. "We can talk about this later, but we've got a mission to plan"

"The one to rescue this Zoe?"

"No" McCoy shook his head. "From what the Rebel Cylons have said, most of the defences were mainly just turned off so they are still there. If we put our ships together, we have a formidable fleet that could take on the Cylons long enough for us to get people on the orbital platforms and bring them online. Once we have orbital superiority, we land ground forces supported by huge amounts of Vipers and Raptors carrying missiles – in theory, we could establish a foothold and then spread out to other worlds as needed"

"Any world in particular?"

"Well I would be tempted to say Caprica, but I'm going to say Picon is our best bet for a good reason. Although the Cylons destroyed most of the shipyards in orbit, most of them on the ground are intact so it would make a good start for those ships in the fleet that need repairs that can't be done in space. Another reason is that most of the heavy production facilities for the capital ships are based there and we have confirmed reports of huge stockpiles just sat doing nothing. We made a raid there before, but it was only a quick splash and dash – this time, we mean to stay"

"A lot of people are going to die"

"Yeah, I know… That's why the civilian fleet is going to make a jump to extreme range before we leave and only we will have the location. If the Cylons board us, the computer is wiped and shot at by Marines"

"Oh…"

"Anyway, lets get ready for this mission to get the supply ship – its going to be a long day's work" McCoy gave her another hug, kissed her forehead and then rose to go speak to his daughter. As he did so, he wondered when he had started referring to her as his daughter instead of his ward. " _End of the world_ " he muttered to himself.

# # # # #

"Jump complete… Powering down all main systems" Sharon said as she worked the _Monster_ 's helm.

"Give me a position, course and speed of all vessels before we went dark" McCoy ordered.

"I can only give you an estimated plot" said one of the Fleet officers who had come over for the mission.

"That'll do" and a display lit up with the last DRADIS information before they powered down everything except passive scanners and thrusters.

"Looks like there are a number of civilian ships put into some sort of parking orbit over the second moon" the officer said. "I read one squadron of Raiders on a patrol path and a Basestar holding position over the ships"

"Any chance they spotted us?"

"We're outside their normal range, so I don't think so"

"Okay, Sharon, put us on a rough heading towards the ships. All hands, this is the Captain. We have powered down almost everything on the ship, so it is going to get really cold in here. People in the forward viewports, keep a sharp lookout for anything and report it at once. As for everybody else, grab blankets and spread out through the ship. If the Cylons jump us and scan for heat sources, they will pick up a concentration which is not what we want. Pilots, man your Vipers and be ready to launch as soon as I give the word. Captain out" McCoy sighed as he looked out of the Bridge's windows. "Well, only nine more hours to go" he said. "Kate, take the chance to service the sublight engines while we're cruising – might as well take the time to do them" he said to a young blonde down in the cramped engine room.

" _Aye, Captain_ "

"Is anybody in cargo bay 1?" he asked.

"Just the two Viper pilots" Sharon said. "Why do you ask?" but McCoy didn't answer but stared at the passive mode of the scanners. "Captain?"

"Depressurise the bay and open the doors but order the pilots not to launch – I have a feeling something is going to happen. Close all bulkheads and compartment doors as well"

"I have nothing on scanners or low level DRADIS" Sharon said.

"I know, but you don't spend decades out here in space without developing a gut feeling something is going to happen" McCoy replied with a growl. "Sharon, you have the Bridge – everybody else get some sleep and wrap up warm"

# # # # #

"We're coming up on weapons range for that Basestar" Sharon announced almost at the nine hour mark.

"Good" McCoy heaved himself out of the Captain's chair and gazed at the distant speck on the screen from an optical camera mounted on the bow. "Launch Vipers and order them to close in on thrusters only until they are in point blank range. Then, get them to send that bastard straight to hell. Engine Room, Bridge, standby to rig battery systems for jump drive. All hands, Battle Stations"

"We've not got that much in the way of weapons"

"I know, but I've always wanted to say that"

"I see… Vipers are in position and starting their attack runs now… Firing missiles… DIRECT HIT – FTL is destroyed and the ship is disabled" Sharon said.

"Restore main power as quickly as you can, power up weapons and engage the enemy. Boarding parties, report to shuttles"

"Shall I take us to the cargo ship?"

"Yes – order our Viper friends to target all missile systems on the Basestar and take them out" McCoy said.

"Okay, here we go…" and Sharon guided the _Monster_ to a docking with the cargo ship whilst shuttles dashed forward to the disabled Basestar. A lone Raptor detached from the hull and jumped away which confused most people who hadn't know it was there. "Power is off in the ship – must be locked into orbit by gravitational tides. We'll have to open the hatches manually and go through each part section by section"

"Concentrate on the Bridge, Engine Room and the FTL as soon as you have secured the ship. Get all spare hands to start shifting cargo over to us so that if we have to scuttle her, we're not leaving empty handed"

"What about you?"

"I… I have other things to do" McCoy replied. Sharon frowned but secured her console and left the compartment. "You know, I envy you Fleet lot at times" he spoke to the young officer still manning her post.

"How so, Sir?"

"Because you have a family of fellow officers and crewmen to keep you going even in the blackest black, to have rules and regulations to fall back on…"

"Didn't help us when the Cylons attacked"

"But it does now – I've seen your people get closer than before the attacks"

"Just human nature, Captain – we are under attack and Fleet units stick together until we win or die"

"Except _Pegasus_ "

"Cain's a bitch – used family connections to make flag rank over senior Commanders. I heard one ship declared quarantine to stop her coming aboard"

"If we find her, we're going to arrest her and the rest of her command staff to face war crimes"

"That's good" said the officer. She was about to say more when the DRADIS started bleeping. "I have a faint contact at the edge of range… I can't tell what it is, and I am picking up no beacons or ID pulses"

" _Monster_ to Vipers – we have a faint contact at extreme range bearing 123 carom 000. Close in and identify target – report when able" McCoy glanced at the Fleet woman. "Keep an ear open for messages – I'm going aboard the freighter"

"Aye, Sir… I have the Conn"

#

The ship was stuffed full of stuff that the fleet badly needed from medical supplies to spare parts for the engines of a number of ships.

"Sir, teams reporting in from the Baseship – they report nothing of any value prisoner wise. They have checked out the jump drives and think they can patch them up for one more journey – do they have your permission?"

"Do it" McCoy said. "Any word from our Vipers?"

"No, and that is the funny thing about it. I can track them on DRADIS but can't raise them on wireless or lasercomms"

"Jamming?"

"Maybe" the officer shrugged. "Whatever is going on, they have assumed formation either side and bringing it towards us"

"Hmm" McCoy frowned and looked at the display for a long time. "Keep a watch on them for now. How long until we can get out of here?" he asked.

"About twenty minutes or so"

"Well I'm going to the galley to rustle up some coffee and sandwiches" McCoy rose from the Captain's seat which creaked with the sound of well-worn leather and went aft to the galley and made food and drink. As he sat and ate, the man wondered about everything that had happened since the attacks. Before the Cylons attacked, he was the leader of a few people in a company picking up salvage and minerals – now he was the _de facto_ leader of the human race. His mind raced with thoughts of how to deploy the limited number of combat ships they had in the best places and to reduce the number of casualties they were going to suffer. He was still eating when the collision alarm started blaring and the officer left on the Bridge came through on the intercom.

" _ACTION STATIONS, ACTION STATIONS! SET CONDITION ONE THROUGHOUT THE SHIP! UNKNOWN VESSEL JUST JUMPED INTO RANGE – CBDR. CAPTAIN TO THE BRIDGE_ " and McCoy jumped up and ran down the corridor to the Bridge.

"Where?" he demanded.

"Behind the Cylon vessel – she's armed weapons and I can pick up smaller contacts… They may be fighters"

"Damn" McCoy took the helm himself. "All hands, disengage capture latches fore and aft – be ready for evasive procedures. Order the others to get that FTL up and jump to the fleet. Is our other friend doing anything?"

"Still maintaining silence, but they have changed course to intercept – both Vipers are staying with it. _Monster_ is clear and free to navigate – cargo ship has jumped away. The Baseship still has no engines, but some weapons are powering up and targeting the second unknown contact"

"Okay… Okay… Arm the forward interceptors – I'm bringing us around"

"Another contact – dead astern… Reading ID beacon – it's the _Virtutem_. She's launching Vipers and coming about to face the enemy"

"Powers must have had the drives spooled up" McCoy said.

"I guess so"

"Say, what the hell is your name?"

"Alice Little – I was a Ensign on the _Medusa_ – one of your scouts found me in an escape pod and brought me aboard"

"Well good for them" McCoy chuckled. With a laugh, he hit the throttles and took them to full speed. "Give me range and bearing on the target – navigation DRADIS is great for navigating but that's all"

"That's about all I can give you" said Little with a sigh. "These civilian sets were not really designed for military purposes. I can try and get better readings if I restrict the DRADIS to front monitoring only, but it means very little warning from the sides and nothing from aft"

"Do it" McCoy said. "When you've sorted it out, get the missiles ready to fire. _Monster_ to _Virtutem_ "

" _Reading you,_ Monster"

"The Baseship is under our command – launch a squadron or two of Vipers and fall back to defend the thing until we can get it jump ready"

" _McCoy, we're picking up a cluster of objects closing from behind… Having a little bit of trouble getting an idea of what they are_ " Powers spoke over the wireless.

"Could be just small rocks" McCoy replied. "We've spotted a fair few on the DRADIS hours ago"

"Second unknown contact just jumped out before fighters or missiles could reach them. Our original friend has come round and should be entering visual range soon" said Little.

"Damn… All ships stand down to Condition 2 and safe all missiles – we can't afford to lose them" McCoy said. "Ensign, you have the Bridge – go over what readings you can and get us docked again. I want everything onboard in twenty minutes and then we leave. Powers, I'm coming aboard"

#

"It was a trap – but a trap so well planned it got both us and our Cylon allies" Lucy Cain rose shakily to her feet. "I have been studying DRADIS and sensor logs from all ships and it appears as if there was a signal sent just as the FTLs on the Baseship were disabled. I can't say from where, but there was a small explosion register soon after so it must have been a Cylon that then killed themselves in order to prevent capture"

"Do we change the plan?" asked one of the pirates.

"The plan is still good, though I think we should put on a bit of extra hull plating on our capital vessels just in case" McCoy tapped an orbital plot on the huge table before him. "We may have to modify it only slightly to bombard the surface with the main batteries before landing ground forces, but the rest of the plan stands"

"We send the civilian vessels off to some place known only to their Captains via hand delivered note on rice paper" Powers took over the discussion. "We will close up to action stations and jump in – using missiles and medium weapons against any and all targets of opportunity with the main batteries saved for knocking out the Basestars and then the ground defences. Once we have done that, the ground forces will be sent in led by a regiment of Centurions in the role of shock troops before the Marines and the sole Army regiment go in to finish the job – they will have the majority of the work to do as the Cylons will take and hold remaining weapon systems only. Because of the need to protect the ships in space and forces taking over the shipyards, there is going to be little to no air cover" Powers paused, sipped some water and then continued. "We have three days in which to be ready and to move some civilians off their ships for this operation. I have spoken to their crews, and they have agreed to stay on because they know their own boats better than anyone. I suggest we run drills on our ships and give weapons and engines full exams. I know it might sound stupid, but you never know when a system might fail in the middle of battle" and shortly after that, the meeting broke up. "Tom?" Powers called and McCoy looked back and saw him and David Swanson remaining in the briefing room. He stepped back inside and closed the door before asking what the problem was.

"While you were away, a pair of Fleet pilots were shuttling supplies to my ships and trapped one of my crewmen in the hold and raped her. Afterwards, they had put a rope over her neck and would have killed her if one of my people was not doing evening rounds and knocked them out with his bare hands" Swanson sighed heavily. "I had my medic sedate the pair of them and brought them in their own shuttle to the _Amethyst_ for them to handle until you and Powers returned"

"They still there?" McCoy asked.

"Yeah – sat in her Brig under maximum guard. Personally, I would just have them walk out the airlock, but I agreed to let you handle punishments because you are the leader of this fleet"

"Problem is, though, that the scum are owed a Court Martial" Powers said. "It's supposed to be at the nearest military base or the flagship of the fleet – we have neither. I'd like to call for one here on _Virtutem_ to show everybody that we are not afraid to punish our own"

"Okay… You serve as the Prosecutor, find somebody to serve for the defence and I will get the _Monster_ 's computer to pick people to serve as Jurors. If you all put your trust in me, then I guess I had better serve as the Judge. But I want this to be fair and clean, Malcolm – everything by the book"

"Aye, Aye, Sir" Powers saluted and left.

# # # # #

"This court is in session" McCoy said. He was sat at a table dressed in a clean uniform of his company – the best he had to a dress uniform. The Court Martial was being held on the starboard hanger deck and only a few people were in attendance, those being himself, Powers, Ensign Little, the Jurors and a member of the press from both wireless and newspaper companies to prove everything was being done openly. "Bring in the accused" he ordered and a hatch opened and the two accused walked in escorted by Centurions borrowed from the Rebel Cylons for this purpose. The two members of the Colonial Fleet came to a halt, turned to their right and saluted the flags that stood in a row behind McCoy before sitting in the two seats next to Little. "This Court Martial is convened at the request of Major Malcolm Powers, an officer of the Colonial Fleet who is serving on detached duty. At my direction, he is to serve as Prosecuting Officer. Ensign Alice Little, an officer of the Colonial Fleet serving on detached service, is directed to serve as Defence Officer. Major Powers, you may make your opening statement"

"Yes, Sir" Powers said after getting to attention. "Sir, Members of the Jury… On or about the fifth day of this month, the accused were ordered by their superior officer to deliver supplies to another vessel in the fleet. Whilst in the course of these duties, they sexually assaulted and raped a civilian crew member. After this disgusting act, they then tried to rape her once more before putting rope around her neck and trying to hang her to cover up their crime. They were discovered by another civilian crew member who disabled them and called for help before the pair were transported to the Battlestar _Amethyst_ for holding prior to investigations by the Senior Military Officer and the Fleet Commander. It is my intention, Sir, to ask for the death penalty. That concludes the opening for the Prosecution"

"Thank you… Ensign Little, you may begin" McCoy looked at the poor woman who had ended up being picked at random.

"Sir! Defence wishes to move straight to witnesses" Little said.

"Very well – bring in the first witness" and an older man stepped through a hatch, walked over and swore an oath to tell the truth.

"You are Doctor Pierce?" asked Powers.

"I am"

"Tell the court what your position and assignment are"

"I'm Chief Medical Officer on the Battlestar _Amethyst_ "

"You were the attending Doctor?"

"I was, but not at first"

"Explain"

"I was giving a first aid course when I was called in to Sickbay. When I got there, the Duty Doctor told me what had happened, the most likely cause and that he felt it should be handled by a senior officer. At _that_ moment, I became the attending Doctor"

"Can you list the injuries you found?"

"I would hardly call them mere injuries, but certainly… Apart from the classical signs of rape, I also found cracked and broken ribs, multiple breakages in her arms and legs along with the associated bruises. I also found evidence of bruising round the beck caused by human hands and rope burns"

"You are certain of these? This is your report detailing the full extent of the injuries?" Powers asked as he lifted a thick brown folder.

"I believe so, yes"

"I have to ask this, Doctor, but did you find any deposits of semen from the accused?"

"Yes, however it would not have mattered for the victim"

"How so?"

"Because both of them are sterile" and McCoy, writing down a note, looked up sharply in surprise.

"No more questions for this witness" Powers said, "Though I reserve the right to recall"

"Fine… Ensign, your witness" McCoy said.

"Sir!" Little rose to her feet and McCoy got the impression that she wanted to be away from them as much as possible. "Doctor, you said you were able to find deposits of semen – how did you come to the conclusion that it was the accused?"

"I took samples and ran them through the DNA sequencer which compared the results to patterns on file. These two were the only files that matched with the samples I took"

"Is it possible that you could have made a mistake? That the machine was calibrated incorrectly?"

"There is that chance, I will agree, but not in this case"

"The machine is unable to say for certain if a person has been raped, isn't it?" Little tried to think of something to make her defence credible, though she knew what the truth was.

"It is"

"Doctor, let us go on to the injuries… The intimate moments of people differ from person to person, correct?"

"Correct"

"Could these injuries have been part of a sex game that went very wrong? After being discovered beaten in a dominance situation, the civilian crewmember was so ashamed that she came up with the rape story?"

"Not with the internal injuries, Ensign"

"Thank you, Doctor – no more questions for this witness"

"You may go, Doctor" McCoy said, "But you must remain onboard for recall"

"Sir!" the Doctor saluted, turned and walked off the hanger deck. The questioning of other witnesses took an hour before the Jury went out to decide their fate which took just half an hour. Everybody gathered again to hear what was widely known to be anyway.

"Members of the Jury, have you reached a verdict yet?"

"We have" the most senior of them, a Chief Petty Officer, rose to her feet. "On the charge of Assault, we find the accused Guilty. On the charge of Rape, we find the accused Guilty. On the charge of Attempted Murder, we find the accused Guilty" and she sat down.

"Defence and accused will rise" and the trio rose and stood to attention. "Specialist Summers, Specialist Canon. You have been found guilty of the charges against you by a jury of your peers. Do you have anything to say in your defence before sentence is passed?"

"Sir?" Little spoke, "My clients were suffering from post traumatic stress as the result of the holocaust. I beg you to take this into consideration"

"So noted. Does the accused have anything to say?"

"No"

"No, Sir"

"Very well… Specialists Summers and Canon – it is the judgement of this Court Martial, that, having been found guilty, you be remanded into the Brig prior to being executed. You are stripped of all rank, privileges and benefits according to your positions. Take them away" McCoy said calmly.

"By Your Command" the Centurions said and took the disgraced crewmembers away. A sense of relief filled the area as people filed out and Powers and McCoy went over to where Little had collapsed into her seat.

"You did well, Ensign" Powers said.

"I didn't though" she sobbed. "I mean, I had to destroy that woman's credibility in court – how is that a job well done?"

"Because even though those scum did it and were proud of it, it was your duty to try and get them off the hook" McCoy said. "Now, Alice, are you armed?"

"Of course, Sir… Standing orders"

"Good – give me your sidearm" Powers ordered.

"Sir?"

"You're beating yourself up over a duty you couldn't win – I don't want you going off somewhere and eating your gun. Go to Sickbay, get a sleeping tablet and go to bed"

"Yes, Sir" the woman whispered, handed over her gun and shuffled away.

"You should promote her" McCoy said as he and Powers watched her leave.

"I will do tomorrow… Tonight, though…? Tonight she has to come to terms with what she did in order to live up to the letter of the law. She had a sister who was raped before the attacks – I think she just had enough" Powers would have said more but there was the sound of a gunshot and the pair raced outside to find Little lying crumpled on the deck with a pistol in her hand a bullet wound to the side of her head.

"Oh crap!" McCoy got onto the intercom. "This is the Captain! Medical team to starboard hanger deck – section B2… Emergency trauma unit needed"

"Stay with me, Ensign… Come on now, that is a direct order – stay with me" Powers cradled the young woman in his arms and prayed as hard as he could. "I thought we had taken her sidearm"

"She must have had a second one" McCoy said as he took the weapon and unloaded it. "Damn it… We should have had a weapons check"

"You couldn't have known" Powers said as the medics and a couple of Doctors rushed towards them.

"We'll take care of her now" one of them said.

" _Major… Captain…_ " and almost inaudible sound make them look at Little who was on a stretcher. " _I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry_ "

"Don't say anything" McCoy said.

"You rest now, Ensign… I want you back on duty tomorrow" Powers tried to ease her mind.

" _Aye, Sir_ " Little gave a heart wrenching rattle before her eyes closed.

"She's arresting – get her to Sickbay right away" a Doctor ordered. They did so leaving Powers and McCoy in the blood soaked corridor and with Little's blood on their hands.

"I'm going to get cleaned up and then head down to find out what is happening" McCoy said at last. "Do I have to take your sidearm?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No… No, I'll be alright"

#

McCoy stood watch in the CIC with only Sharon and a pale looking Lucy Cain for company. He felt he'd be better doing something useful and so decided to stand a shift back to back to take his mind off things. He been down to see his daughter, he filed formal papers to do so, then returned to the CIC.

"DRADIS contact, bearing 112 carom 978… Its our scout, Captain"

"Whatever"

"Thomas, there is a call from Sickbay" Lucy said.

"I'll take it" McCoy picked up the handset and listened for a few seconds before replacing it. "Locate Powers and have him meet me in Sickbay. Lucy, the deck is yours"

"Um, alright" she replied. Once McCoy had gone, she looked over to Sharon. "What do I do with the deck?" she asked.

"Just watch it"

"Okay" and Lucy started to stare at the floor. Sharon simply rolled her eyes and remembered that Lucy had spent much of her life imprisoned and so didn't get a lot of things.

#

"I got here as fast as I could" Powers said. "Whats going on?" he asked as he stood in his flight suit.

"Doctor said he wanted to see us" McCoy shrugged. "I'm not sure that's good news or not"

"I shouldn't have had her do it – I should have ordered someone to in her place" Powers spat bitterly.

"She knew what she was going to do… She just didn't realise how far she would have to go to try and win an unwinnable situation"

"Captain? Major?" the sound of the Doctor made them turn to see a blood stained man walk towards them. "I was able to stop the bleeding to the brain and glue the skull back into place. As I was working, a Cylon offered me another option and I took it"

"Such as?" Powers demanded hotly.

"Cylons have a type of substance that they use to help repair their ships. One little drop of the stuff was enough to repair the fractures in the skull of Ensign Little" the Doctor explained. "Normally, I would not have used an untried method, but I had no other option other than to ease her suffering"

"I see… So she's going to make it?" asked McCoy with relief.

"I see no reason why not" the Doctor replied, "But she'll need quite some time in getting over what has happened to her"

"Can she be moved?" asked McCoy.

"Normally, I would say not for a while" the Doctor sighed and wiped his brow with the back of his bloody hand. "However, I know of your plans to attack Picon… Would two hours delay be too much to ask?"

"That should be alright" Powers glanced at McCoy who shrugged. The Doctor nodded and hurried away to tend to Little. "We better get most of the civilians off the ships that are staying behind" he said. "That is problem number one"

"Number one?"

"Scout reports having spotted an extra three Basestars and a Baseship in tight formation. With their combined firepower, there is no way we can take on the existing guard and launch a ground assault. Even if we launched a nuke, it would be shot down before it got anywhere near"

"What if we put it on a Raptor and jumped it into their midst?"

"It would have to be detonated manually… I don't think we can ask anybody to do that"

"Yes we can" McCoy said darkly. "Major, get me the most damaged Raptor loaded with a nuclear warhead with enough fuel to make a jump and a few small changes of position. Tell my people they have an hour to get everything of worth stripped out of it – even the seats and most of the controls"

#

"They in there?" McCoy asked.

"Yes, Sir" said a couple of Marines that had come over from _Amethyst_.

"Good – unlock the door and then report to your CO for new orders"

"I'm not sure you can give us orders"

"That was not an order… that was me telling you" McCoy let his hand fall to his trusty pistol. The marines looked at each other, shrugged and left after unlocking the door.

"Come to drag us to our deaths?" sneered one of the prisoners.

"No" McCoy looked at the other one who was sat in a chair and resigned to their fate. "How would you like to die as soldiers and as men instead of animals?"

"What do you mean, Captain?"

"Our scout reported back and said the Cylons have moved in more Basestars and Baseships over Picon. The only way to take them out is by using a nuclear warhead at full yield detonated manually. I am giving yourselves a chance to redeem yourselves in part by carrying out a one way trip"

"Why?" sneered the more outspoken one.

"Because you can either die without the merit of your names" McCoy snorted, "Or you can die redeeming your honour and as heroes. If you agree to this, I will let it be known that you asked to do this"

# # # # #

"Sir, our recon Raptor has jumped back in – the suicide mission is a complete success. It took out the additional ships and a sizeable portion of the Raiders" one of McCoy's crew said.

"Alright, put me through to all ships"

"You are on"

"Attention all ships, this is Captain Thomas McCoy. Our final reports indicate that our little surprise took the Cylons by surprise and we've eliminated their extra ships and a good amount of raiders. Let me tell you, however, that it will still not be easy as the Cylons will fight for every single inch of space. The plan will go ahead with only one change – those ships with two or more barrels on their main guns are to fire them in sequence. We think a ripple wave of firepower might actually do better than a wall of solid metal" and McCoy paused. "I don't know if this is going to work, I can't say if we will win and there's no way we will all come home alive. But, if we work together and hard, we can help to make good what we have here and to secure a future for our families. All ships, set condition one and begin jump prep – set your board target as Picon Fleet Headquarters… We're going home" and alarms and sirens sounded as last checks were made and all crew reported to their stations.

"Captain, all departments report they are manned and ready. All compartments report rigged for combat" Sharon had donned her company uniform sensing that they needed the formality.

"FTL is spun up and ready"

"All ships are reporting ready status" and McCoy looked at the officer that was manning the communications console. Most of the top positions had gone to those Colonial Fleet members that had been rescued and knew how to work ever changing plots on computers, could handle scanners under pressure and worked with the heavy weapons. McCoy's salvage crew had supplemented the scant crew assigned to Engineering and Damage Control on the basis that their knowledge of how to jury rig crippled systems would work well in the upcoming battle. With a sigh, McCoy looked at the DRADIS display above him that showed only the military vessels of the fleet indicated by a lurid shade of green with all the noise seeming to die down until he could only hear the sweep of the DRADIS itself.

"For the Colonies… **JUMP** "

 **A/N:**

 **Well, looks like the Cylons are about to get one hell of a special delivery right up their backsides! To clarify a point here, every combat ship has made the jump – so the Battlestars, the pirate ships, the police frigates and the Rebel Cylons have all gone leaving the civilians to fend for themselves at the edge of range protected by a few Vipers. The upcoming battle should be interesting!**

 **Also, I've made a decision that the older 1** **st** **War Cylon ships are Basestars… The newer ones are Baseships – hence why both terms are being used.**

 **Reviews by encrypted wireless transmission only…**

 **Regards,**

 **Pixel**


End file.
